ECN starts pilot at the test facility Plant One

Minister Verhagen has opened the test facility Plant One   On Monday afternoon, 23 May, Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I) opened Plant One, a new test facility for sustainable process technology in the Port of Rotterdam. This facility will be used to bridge the gap between the laboratory stage and full-scale production. Process improvements that look promising at laboratory scale can be demonstrated at pilot scale and further developed towards industrial deployment. The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has set up a pilot installation at Plant One.

Plant One is a long-cherished wish of the Rotterdam region. The main objective of the initiators is to stimulate and accelerate sustainable development.

“The port of Rotterdam wants to obtain a leading international position in the field of sustainability. Therefore, it aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 50% in 2025 compared to 1990. Plant One will help realise this ambition”, explains Karin Husman, Director at Plant One. “This pilot location is different from other initiatives because of its large-scale approach and because it focuses on multiple techniques. Moreover, we have a framework permit which reduces the duration of a permit procedure per pilot from several months or even years to only a few weeks”, says Husmann. 

18 months after the subsidy was granted, Plant One is not only ready for operation, but has meanwhile also welcomed its first pilots. ECN is developing a technology to make complex separation processes more efficient, reducing both energy use and cost. This so-called HybSi® membrane technology offers an alternative for distillation in the process industry. Its development has now reached the point where it is essential to translate industrial interest in actual deployment. Plant One offers an ideal location where various test for end users will be conducted. The first test, which is subsidised by the EOS-KT programme of NLAgency, will get started soon. The test will be conducted through a consortium consisting of Air products, Trion Partners, Sulzer Chemtech, Deltalinqs and ECN. Thanks to this industry test, ECN’s innovative membrane technology will be able to make an important contribution to increasing industrial sustainability. 

Another new pilot at Plant One, which is initiated by TNO, is ‘ACCU’: an installation that removes CO₂ from the air. Moreover, CHP Technology is developing a decentralised low temperature gasifier for local energy generation.

The initiators of Plant One are the Rotterdam Climate Initiative, the Port of Rotterdam, Deltalinqs and TNO. The initiative is also supported by subsidies from the municipality of Rotterdam, the Province of South Holland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I). Plan One was started by Carbon Starts, a company that starts up sustainable enterprises and helps them develop into independent businesses.

Note for the editor
For more information about this press release, please contact
Karin Husmann, Director of Plant One, telephone no. (+31) (0) 6 303 243 40, or e-mail karin.husmann@remove-this-part-plant-one.nl

Or visit: www.plant-one.nl

More information about the pilots:

ECN: Florentine de Maar, Press Officer, e-mail: demaar@remove-this-part-ecn.nl, telephone: (+31) (0) 224-56 4050

TNO: Arij van Berkel, Director of Innovation Chemicals, e-mail: arij.vanberkel@remove-this-part-tno.nl, telephone: (+31) (0) 6 512 975 13

CHP Technology: Bob Busser, e-mail: Bob@remove-this-part-chp-technology.com, telephone: (+31) (0) 6 531 641 52

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