With a population of over 38 million people and covering an area of 473,000km2, Heilongjiang's most significant economic activity is agriculture. In 2011 the Province's nominal GDP was 1,250 billion yuan (US$198.5 billion), and its annual growth rate was 12.2%.
"The scale of this opportunity is exciting and we are delighted to be developing our presence in China further," said David Weaver, CEO of TMO. "This is the first step towards building one of the first second generation biofuel facilities in China. Our network in China is growing and we look forward to announcing an offtake agreement for the ethanol produced, another key element that needs to be in place for the delivery of an operational plant in the province."
The MOU is the first step towards building the first of a future series of second generation biofuel production facilities in China. TMO will be able to assess the full potential of the HSF feedstock using its Process Demonstration Unit (PDU) in Surrey. The UK's first cellulosic demonstration facility, the PDU is used to conduct feasibility studies on a wide range of feedstocks to determine the optimal process for each material for clients at a commercially relevant scale.
In conjunction with its principle shareholder, Diverso, TMO has been building a successful track record of working in China and is able to leverage that experience to its advantage in its work in Heilongjiang.
In May 2011 TMO announced that it had been selected to be evaluated as the technology partner of two major organizations in China: COFCO, China's largest diversified products and services supplier in the agribusiness and food industry, and CNOOC New Energy Investment Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), one of the largest state-owned oil companies.
"Second generation ethanol production has been part of our strategy at the Heilongjiang State farm for some time and so we are excited to see the first step in the realisation of this strategy and eager to see the future plant start production as soon as possible," said Zhang Guichun, Director-general of HSF 93 farm.
Both companies signed agreements with TMO to embark on joint testing programmes to manufacture ethanol from cassava residue and cassava stalk. In May 2012 TMO advanced to demonstration scale evaluation on cassava stalk feedstock with both COFCO and CNOOC.
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