The first Etanolix plant delivered to the international market by St1 Biofuels Oy was recently inaugurated in Gothenburg, Sweden. The plant delivered to North European Bio Tech Oy recycles feedstocks such as biowaste and process residue from local bakeries and bread from shops that is past its sell-by date into ethanol for transport fuel. The ethanol plant is fully integrated into the functions and logistics of St1 oil refinery in Gothenburg and has an annual production capacity of 5 million liters (1.32 million gallons) of advanced bioethanol. The refinery staff will operate the Etanolix plant.

The Finnish energy company St1 is a pioneer in waste-based ethanol production and production technologies. In Finland, there are already four Etanolix plants and one Bionolix plant that produces ethanol from biowaste from shops and households. The first Cellunolix plant using sawdust as a feedstock, will begin production in Kajaani, Finland, next year.

The Finnish investor of the new Gothenburg ethanol plant, NEB, is an associated company of SOK Corp. and energy company St1 whose purpose is to invest in biofuel production units.  The production capacity of the plant will be leased to North European Oil Trade Oy. NEOT is sister company to NEB and it is the most significant independent fuel supply company in the Baltic Sea region. It delivers fuels to major Nordic service station chains—ABC, St1 and Shell—with a total of 1,500 service stations in Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Thanks to its feedstocks and production technology, the ethanol produced at the Etanolix plant will be almost carbon-neutral. The plant is fully integrated into the functions and logistics of the refinery, which will yield significant synergy benefits in the use of residual heat and cooling and in product distribution.

“Building the ethanol plant in Gothenburg is a significant launch on the international market for us. Our scalable Etanolix concept is a finished export product. Ethanol produced using our technology generates virtually no lifecycle fossil emissions,” says Patrick Pitkänen, head of business development and sales at St1 Biofuels.

The Gothenburg plant is the first biofuel production plant for NEOT, which is an oil and biofuel wholesale trading company. “By investing in biofuel production of our own, we are strengthening our sourcing of biofuels and supporting our strategy of fulfilling growing biofuels mandate,” says Henrikki Talvitie, managing director of NEOT.

The Gothenburg project has been selected for inclusion in the Life+ program of the European Commission, which provides funding for projects for instance on energy, the climate, environmental management, industry and production, waste management and environmental policy. This project is the first in which an ethanol production plant has been integrated at an existing oil refinery to produce waste- and residue-based ethanol on a sustainable basis.