Implantation of the BioTJet plant in Lacq: BioTfueL® takes flight

Elyse Energy, Avril, Axens, Bionext and IFP Energies nouvelles announce the creation of the BioTJet plant in the Lacq industrial area, a new centre of excellence for sustainable fuels.
This new plant is a key building block in the development of a French sustainable aviation fuel production industry, in keeping with the roadmap announced by the French government and the “ReFuelEU Aviation” European regulation proposal. This project will be the first industrial unit based on the BioTfueL^® process, developed and demonstrated by IFP Energies nouvelles and its partners at the Venette and Dunkirk sites.

Officially announced today, the BioTJet production unit will be created in the Lacq industrial basin, on the former Yara site.

BioTJet will build and operate a sustainable aviation fuel production plant from biomass and low-carbon hydrogen. By 2028, BioTJet should supply 75,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon intensity in air transport, and 35,000 tonnes of naphtha for road transport and the green chemicals industry.

BioTfueL®: an innovative technology for the production of advanced biofuels

The project builds on the BioTfueL^® process, which has been initially tested in a semi-industrial plant developed from 2010 to 2021 by a consortium involving IFP Energies nouvelles, Avril, Axens, CEA, TotalEnergies and ThyssenKrupp Uhde within the Bionext company. The BioTfueL^® technology helps recover a wide range of lignocellulosic biomass (agricultural and forestry residues), without competing with food uses. BioTJet relies on the BioTfueL^® technology version that combines biomass conversion (torrefaction, gasification, syngas treatment and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis) with external hydrogen injection to improve its low-carbon yield, thereby doubling the amount of e-kerosene obtained for the same amount of biomass used.

“We are delighted to see BioTJet establish itself in the iconic industrial area of Lacq. The BioTfueL^® technology, which will be at the heart of this sustainable aviation fuel production unit, is the result of an intense, 10-year research partnership to which we have been, and still are, strongly committed. This achievement is fully in line with the IFPEN group’s ambition to use its innovations to help reduce carbon intensity in industry and transport”, adds Pierre-Franck Chevet, CEO of IFP Energies Nouvelles.

See the full press release (PDF, 1,6 Mo)