Algae.Tec signs JV with Chinese company for expansion

Australian company Algae.Tec has signed a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with Chinese company Shandong Kerui.

 Working together, the companies will build a 250-module algae biofuels facility in China, in which both companies will pay half to cover costs.

The module system at the facility will be enclosed and the way the algae will be cultivated is meant to give it a high yield per acre, whilst at the same time not using land to produce biofuels’ feedstocks.

The plant is tipped to be the first of its kind in the world, according to Algae.Tec’s executive chairman, Roger Stroud, who says the main focus of the facility will be to use algae to produce biofuels.

 ‘The equally funded facility will be built in Dongying, in Shandong Province, and produce approximately 33 million litres of algae derived transport oil and approximately 33,000 tonnes of biomass per annum at a combined value of over $40million (€31 million), and capture 137,000 tonnes of waste carbon dioxide. And this should be the first of many,’ says Stroud.  

 The JV is part of Algae.Tec’s plans to expand throughout China, looking to corporations and environmental administration authorities to help it to do so. 

‘China is a country truly focused on a “blue skies” policy. The Algae.Tec technology will reduce unwanted emissions and will convert them into locally produced transport fuels which will add to fuel independence,’ adds Stroud. 

‘Algae.Tec is well positioned for massive expansion in the fastest growing economy in the world and will be raising capital shortly to fund this expansion.’

The plant will be built in a region that has the second biggest oil operations in China although Kerui says it has implemented a pollution and carbon programme from now until 2015 to combat emissions.

Once the plant has been built, Algae.Tec will look to build products that have more than 1,000 modules and ‘engage with CO₂ emitters in the greater China region’.

This is not the only region Algae.Tec is expanding into. Last week the company said it would increase its facility in Atlanta, Georgia, by four times, increasing it to a 70,000 square foot facility to use for new commercial projects.