Estonia – Perpetual Next is to expand biocoal production at its site in Estonia. It also has plans for large-scale biomethanol production at its Baltania site. The company will partner with TSI to build the world’s largest reactors for biocoal production.
Perpetual Next produces biocoal by torrefaction of woody waste streams. Currently, the company has a biocoal plant in Estonia. To expand that site, the company is working with U.S. TSI to develop large-scale torrefaction reactors. The first two reactors will have a capacity of 160 thousand tons per year, which is four times the current capacity.
This collaboration will also boost large-scale production of biomethanol. The company makes biomethanol through gasification of biocarbon. Perpetual Next aims to be able to commission the first biomethanol production facility at its Baltania site in 2027. This should have an annual production of 220,000 tons of biomethanol. This involves an investment of 450 million euros.
Eight Tor reactors are planned to be built under the agreement with TSI to serve Perpetual Next’s various biomethanol projects in Europe and the US. The first biomethanol customers have already come forward, the company said.
The project in Estonia, named Baltanor, is a copy of the project Perpetual Next is building in Delfzijl, Deltator/Deltanor. Here the company has plans to produce biocarbon and biomethanol.
Perpetual Next produces biocarbon from woody waste streams. For this purpose, it applies a thermochemical carbonization process, torrefaction. The carbon can be used in the steel industry, in cement production and in the chemical industry. It can also serve as a feedstock in a gasification process to produce syngas, from which methanol can be made.
