St1 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a bioethanol pilot project in Thailand

St1 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a bioethanol pilot project in
Thailand

St1, a Finnish energy company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Ubon Bio Ethanol to launch a pilot project of the production of bioethanol
from cassava waste, with the aim of setting up a joint venture for ethanol
production in Thailand. Thailand is a forerunner in use of renewable energy.
The country uses over 3 million litres of ethanol per day as transport fuel,
and the Thai government plans to raise consumption to 11.3 million litres
per day by 2036.

St1 is a pioneer in non-food, waste- and residue-based ethanol production
and production technologies. The company's production technology is
currently being used in Finland and Sweden. So far company's ethanol
production feedstocks consist of food industry waste, household and grocery
store biowaste and sawdust. St1 has performed worldwide studies of different
types of potential food industry waste for bioethanol production, and
discovered that waste from cassava starch production in Thailand is one of
the best feedstock sources for the company's Etanolix® technology.

"Cassava waste is a challenging feedstock for ethanol production due to its
fibrous consistency, which makes starch extraction difficult. The pilot
tests in St1 R&D laboratories proved that it is an excellent feedstock for
our bioethanol production process. Our experiences of using Cellulinox®
technology to produce ethanol from sawdust helped us to address the
challenges involved in the processing of fibrous feedstock materials. The
amount of cassava waste generated by Thailand's largest starch production
plants would enable the construction of units producing 10-30 million litres
of ethanol per year. Our goal is to build as many as 20 Etanolix® plants in
Thailand, with a combined production capacity of 400 million litres of
ethanol per year," says Patrick Pitkänen, Head of Business Development and
Sales at St1.

For this project, St1 partnered with Ubon Bio Ethanol Company Limited, which
has a starch and ethanol plant in the same location in Ubon Ratchathani,
Thailand. This convenient arrangement would make the pilot project easy to
manage and would simplify full-scale production logistics. Ubon Bio Ethanol,
the largest cassava ethanol producer in Thailand, is a private company whose
shareholders are state-owned energy companies.

"We are ready to go ahead with the pilot stage with our local partners, to
ensure a smooth start to production and to assess the effects of local
conditions and seasonal changes on the scale and design of the ethanol
plant. This is also an important learning opportunity for the team, which
consists of representatives from both companies. Design engineers are
currently working on the pilot equipment, and the pilot launch is scheduled
for this year," Patrick Pitkänen continues.

"Our co-operation will make an impact on the cassava starch industry and we
try to increase the value of the by-products like cassava pulp. We plan to
expand this concept also to other starch producers in Thailand and nearby
countries. To produce ethanol from by-product serves two purposes; it
improves economically margin of starch producers and solves the
environmental issue related to by-product. Moreover, Ubon Bio Ethanol is
committed to the sustainable development goals related to our business
partners, farmers, community and the environment," says Daechapon
Lersuwanaroj, the president of Ubon Bio Ethanol, Thailand.

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Link to Original Article:
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/01/25/910593/0/en/St1-signed-a-M
emorandum-of-Understanding-for-a-bioethanol-pilot-project-in-Thailand.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com