To be located at Vertex Bioenergy’s site in Lacq, the plant will be able to be operated remotely and is part of Messer’s long-term company strategy.
“We want to further diversify our CO2 sources thereby ensuring a reliable gas supply for our customers,” emphasized Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of the Messer Group.
“The new plant will enable us to meet the growing demand of our customers in France and at the same time support the expansion of our CO2 business in northern Spain.”
The €11.3m investment will see the largest family run industrial gases specialist double its production capacity in Lacq to 130,000 metric tons of raw CO2 per year in the future.
Commissioning is scheduled for July 2022.
The CO2 recovered by Messer is a by-product of the production process of Bioénergie du Sud-Ouest, a company of Vertex Bioenergy.
At its Lacq site, Vertex Bioenergy produces 235 million litres of bioethanol from corn every year, making it a European leader in the biofuel industry and a leading producer of bioethanol in Spain and France.
“The use of CO2 offers both economic and ecological advantages for many processes and helps our customers to meet the challenges of their markets,” said Stefan Messer.