TÜV, Germany’s main state certification agency, completed an audit focused on safety and environmental issues at the site. The Fraunhofer Institute, which is in charge of operating the plant, has already hired and trained twelve operators.
The first fermentation run at the facility will begin this week, but the isobutene will initially be flared. Rick Bockrath, Global Bioenergies’ Vice President of Chemical Engineering, says the site’s purification unit and filling station will start operations in the first quarter of 2017, with ton-scale shipments starting shortly thereafter.
“We expect the process to approach commercial performances by the end of 2017. It will then be ready for industrial deployment,” says Marc Delcourt, Global Bioenergies CEO.