Thermya builds three facilities for the torrefaction of biomass

Thermya, a French engineering firm dedicated to biomass-to-energy conversion technologies, has begun building three industrial biocoal production units using Torspyd – the company's biomass torrefaction process.

The first unit is currently in construction on the site of Urnieta, in the Spanish Basque Country, under the supervision of Grupo Lantec, promoter and developer of the project.

'The commissioning of the plant is planned for the summer 2011,' says Román Monasterio, managing director of Grupo Lantec.

Upon completion, the plant will produce 20,000 tonnes a year of biocoal from forestry waste. This biocoal will then be supplied to nearby coal-fired power plants and co-fired with coal, reducing the consumption of fossil fuel at the plants, as well as their CO2 footprint.

Thermya is also constructing two biocoal production units in Mazingarbe, in France, for French company LMK Energy.

LMK Energy awarded a contract to Thermya in January 2011 for the turnkey supply of two biomass torrefaction units with a total production capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year of biocoal. The biocoal produced at the Mazingarbe torrefaction plant will be made into pellets or briquettes and then transported to European power stations.

'The construction phase started in March and we are progressing according to schedule with the operation of the first unit planned for the end of Q3', says Franck Lavarde, president and managing director of LMK Energy.