Port biomethanol plant takes next step

Netherlands joint venture GIDARA Energy uses its own patented High-Temperature Winkler (HTW) technology, a gasification process, to convert non-recyclable waste into advanced biofuels for use in many sectors, including marine fuels.

In April 2022 it announced plans to set up the plant, known as AMA (Advanced Methanol Amsterdam)  to produce bio-methanol in a way that ’creates significant carbon savings compared to fossil-based fuels’. It said it would produce 90,000 tonnes of renewable methanol a year through the conversion of 180,000 tonnes of local non-recyclable waste, which at the moment is being incinerated.

PX Group was involved in the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase of the project, and will now take on its operation and maintenance, initially helping with building and commissioning.

In 2021, PX Group was bought by Ara Partners, a private equity firm that set up the GIDARA JV with GI Dynamics.

Neil Grimley, px Group’s Managing Director of GIDARA Projects, comments: “I’m looking forward to continuing what is now an extremely close relationship with GIDARA. We’ve already been working with them on the ground in the Netherlands through the FEED stage, and we’ll now be taking on even more responsibility in the coming months.”

The plant is due to become operational in 2024.