Maire Tecnimont Group’s NextChem to develop BioJet Plant

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiary, NextChem, received a contract by TotalEnergies to carry out a FEED and supply its technological know-how to implement a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) plant in Grandpuits, France, capable of processing 400,000 tons per year.

The project is part of the plan to convert the Grandpuits Refinery into a zero-crude platform that will include a bio refinery, where NextChem is engineering Europe’s first plant to produce compostable and biodegradable plastics, with a capacity of 100,000 ton/y.

The BioJet plant, due to be operational in 2024, will help NextChem’s role in TotalEnergies’s net-zero strategy as a major part of the Grandpuits Refinery zero-crude platform development, known as “Projet Galaxie”. The “Projet Galaxie” will produce BioJet fuels by treating animal fats from Europe and used cooking oil.

“We are very happy to continue strengthening our strategic collaboration with a prestigious global player like TotalEnergies: being the partner of choice for its ambitious Grandpuits energy transition project is exciting, as innovative corporations have pioneering goals and may make the difference in Europe’s challenging path to decarbonization,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, Chief Executive Officer, Maire Tecnimont Group and NextChem. “Combining Maire Tecnimont’s leading experience in EPC contracting in the natural resources transformation sector worldwide, with NextChem’s focus on deploying solutions in carbon footprint reduction through the development of new technologies is a winning value proposition.  The air transportation sector is looking for biofuels solutions urgently, to cope with the challenging targets for GHG emissions reduction. This partnership will give a concrete answer to a concrete need.”