Arkema has signed a long-term agreement with ENGIE, starting on 1 January 2023, for the supply of 300 GWh/year of renewable biomethane in France. This represents one of the largest private biomethane deals in Europe to date.
This 10-year partnership sees ENGIE Global Energy Management & Sales (ENGIE GEMS) provide Arkema with 3TWh of biomethane to support the company in its decarbonisation journey.
It will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of Arkema's bio-based high-performance Rilsan® polyamide 11 and Pebax® Rnew® elastomers.
The agreement also supports the acceleration of the biomethane sector, in which ENGIE is already a major player in France.
The feedstock for biomethane in France is particularly respectful of the environment with more than 95% coming from the fermentation of agricultural residues and organic waste and with no competition with food, according to Arkema.
Arkema is also exploring opportunities to collaborate with ENGIE and other industry participants to support the continuous improvement of renewable biomethane production in France.
“We are very excited to announce this milestone contract with ENGIE, which will enable us to lower the carbon footprint of our bio-based high performance materials even further, in line with our customers’ expectations," said Erwoan Pezron, senior vice-president of Arkema’s high performance polymers.
“We are delighted to accompany Arkema - a historical client of ENGIE - in their sustainable transition journey with such a large green energy supply agreement. At ENGIE, we believe that biomethane will play an essential role in the European energy mix and will be a key vector for decarbonising the energy usages of our clients," said Paulo Almirante, ENGIE senior EVP in charge of renewables, energy management and nuclear activities.
"This landmark deal definitely represents a major boost in the energy intensive chemical industry and establishes further ENGIE as a reference biomethane player in Europe.”
