Technip to engineer biomass power plant that will run on dedicated energy grass

French engineering group Technip has been awarded a front end engineering design contract by the Biomass Investment Group (BIG) for their closed loop biomass power plant project located in Florida which will use 'E-Grass' (Arundo Donax, also known as 'Giant Reed') as a farm grown herbaceous energy crop. This contract also includes the design and supply of a process demonstration unit, approximately 1/10th scale.

This project will be the world's first large-scale operation for producing electricity from a crop grown specially for conversion into green electricity. This biomass energy source is renewable and presents environmental advantages such as a substantial reduction in carbon emissions, no-till agriculture and low power plant emissions.

Technip's operations and engineering center in Claremont (California) will execute the contract. The plant will utilize BIG's proprietary bioconversion process to transform the biomass into a liquid fuel for use in a combined cycle combustion-turbine generator system.

It will also be the world's first grass fired power plant to sell green electricity to utilities and other clients under long-term power purchase contracts. BIG recently signed a 130MW Power Purchase Agreement with Progress Energy (previous post).

Dedicated energy crop
E-Grass or Arundo Donax is a high-yield perennial grass species that resembles bamboo or sugar cane. Its fast growth, low moisture and mineral needs and its strong energy yield make E-Grass a good energy crop (earlier post).

Once established, the crop grows like bamboo – spreading its roots and producing a number of new shoots. It requires about 25 inches of water per year to survive, tolerates brackish water, and uses a minimal amount of nutrients from the soil.

Mature stalks grow to an average height of twenty feet and an average diameter of one inch. At the end of the growing season, plants are harvested in a manner similar to sugar cane. Even after cutting, Arundo Donax will continue to grow new plants each year from it rhizomes and does not have to be replanted. The crop can be harvested up to twice annually. Over 100,000 stalks can be grown on an acre of land once the crop has reached maturity:
energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: grass :: renewable :: energy crop :: Giant Reed :: Arundo Donax ::

For BIG's projects located in the Gulf of Mexico region (including the U.S. Gulf Coast), the herbaceous perennial crop will be grown for the company's energy production systems and external product markets. Further advantages of Arundo donax are:

• the fact that it is a fast-growing plant that produces large yields in warm climates.
• the fact that its stalks have a naturally occurring coat of wax that repels moisture and protects the chips from deteriorating during storage.
• the fact that it is widely used as an ornamental plant for landscaping throughout the southern United States.
• the fact that it requires less water due to its deep roots.

Such a fast-growing high-yield crop enables BIG to maximize its energy production per unit of cropland area, thereby realizing optimal resource use.

Furthermore, the crop is extremely hardy, has no natural enemies, and grows in poor soils without fertilizer and with very little rainfall. The plant flourishes in warm climates and is a very efficient converter of the sun's radiation into biomass.

The Biomass Investment Group earlier announced in was investing in energy plantations in the Philippines, where it will be planting Miscanthus, another energy grass, that will be converted into bio-oil and then shipped to end users (previous post).


With a workforce of 22,000 people, Technip ranks among the top five corporations in the field of oil, gas and petrochemical engineering, construction and services. Headquartered in Paris, the Group is listed in New York and Paris.

The group's main operations and engineering centers and business units are located in France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the USA, Brazil, Abu-Dhabi, China, India, Malaysia and Australia.

In support of its activities, the group manufactures flexible pipes and umbilicals, and builds offshore platforms in its manufacturing plants and fabrication yards in France, Brazil, the UK, the USA, Finland and Angola, and has a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.

References:
Biopact: U.S. company planting Miscanthus in the Philippines for biofuels production - February 20, 2006

Biopact: Progress Energy Florida to buy electricity from largest biomass gasification plant - July 27, 2007