Air Liquide has been awarded a five-year contract to supply a large volume of oxygen per annum to an advanced biofuels facility being constructed by Advanced Plasma Power and Cadent.
The high-purity oxygen will be used to convert 10,000 tonnes per annum of household waste into 22GWh of biosubstitute natural gas (BioSNG), enough to heat 1,500 homes or fuel 75 heavy goods vehicles. Construction of the facility has already started and it is due to deliver gas to the grid in the first half of 2018. Once it has achieved full operation it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5,000 tonnes per annum
Funding for the £25m facility has been provided by an £11m grant awarded in September 2015 from the Department for Transport’s Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition, the Gas Network Innovation Competition and the project partners.
The project will catalyse the development of further BioSNG plants. The technology has the potential to produce 100TWh of green gas per annum, enough to fuel all of the UK’s heavy goods vehicles or meet one third of our domestic heat demand. Achieving this potential will require 11 billion cubic metres of oxygen per annum.
Richard Murphy, Managing Director of Air Liquide UK said “Air Liquide are pleased to be working with Cadent and Advanced Plasma Power on this exciting project. It demonstrates our ability to deliver innovative solutions to new markets and our commitment to promoting the transition to low carbon alternatives to fossil fuels.”
Rolf Stein, Chief Executive of Advanced Plasma Power said “We have been really impressed by Air Liquide’s professionalism and ability to provide a cost effective and flexible oxygen solution. Production of BioSNG requires a high-quality gas partner and we look forward to working with Air Liquide on future projects.”
David Parkin, Director of Network Strategy of Cadent said “Decarbonising heat will require innovative technologies such as BioSNG. This oxygen supply agreement shows that important role that industrial gases companies such as Air Liquide can play in the development and commercialisation of these technologies.”
