Minister Haseloff gives the start for building by the Joint Venture of CropEnergies and Tyczka Energie
Zeitz, 26 March 2010 - Reiner Haseloff, Minister of Employment and Economic Affairs of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, together with Markwart Kunz, Deputy Supervisory Board Chairman of CropEnergies AG and Executive Board member of its parent company Südzucker AG Mannheim/Ochsenfurt, and Hans-Wolfgang Tyczka, majority shareholder of the Tyczka Group, made the first symbolic spade cut to start construction of a plant for liquefying biogenic CO2 from the production of bioethanol.
With an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of food-grade liquefied CO2 and scheduled to start operations as early as the end of 2010, the plant is being erected by CT Biocarbonic GmbH, a joint venture of CropEnergies AG from Mannheim and Tyczka Energie GmbH from Geretsried, in the immediate vicinity of the bioethanol plant of CropEnergies in Zeitz.
Haseloff is convinced of the project's success. "The building of this CO2 liquefaction plant shows yet again that Saxony-Anhalt is an attractive business location drawing enterprises that develop and implement innovative solutions." CropEnergies and Tyczka Energie are investing more than EUR 10 million in the plant for liquefaction, purification and recycling of CO2 which uses the infrastructure of the existing bioethanol plant.
"With the production of CO2 as an additional product, we will improve the profitabiliy of the Zeitz location," explained the CropEnergies Supervisory Board member and Südzucker Executive Board member Markwart Kunz. The bioethanol plant of CropEnergies in Zeitz with an annual capacity of 360,000 m³ of bio-ethanol is one of the largest bioethanol plants in Europe. Cereals and sugar syrups are processed into bioethanol for the fuel sector and into protein feed. Biogenic CO2 is formed when raw materials are fermented into bioethanol and this CO2 is used as raw material by the new liquefaction plant of CT Biocarbonic.
The liquefied food-grade CO2, marketed exclusively by Tyczka Kohlensäure GmbH & Co KG, Geretsried, is used in the drinks industry in the form of carbonic acid, in the foods industry as refrigerant and frosting agent, as well as for manufacturing dry ice as a cleansing agent. "The location of Zeitz in the centre of Europe is particularly ideal for the Tyczka Group of companies because from here we can satisfy the demand for biogenic CO2 even better in future. The Zeitz facility is going to strengthen our already outstanding market position even more in future," says Hans-Wolfgang Tyczka, majority shareholder of the Tyczka Group.
Information about the enterprises
The CropEnergies Group - a member of the Südzucker Group - is a leading European producer of sustainably manufactured bioethanol for the fuel sector. Within just a few years, CropEnergies has succeeded in establishing itself as one of the leading bioethanol producers within a growing market and operates subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium and France. The shares of CropEnergies AG (ISIN DE000A0LAUP1) are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in official trade (Prime Standard).
Tyczka Energie GmbH is the management enterprise in the medium-sized Tyczka Group of companies headquartered in Geretsried. Core business areas are energy supply with liquid gases (propane and butane) and in which it is market leader in Germany, as well as operations throughout Europe with industrial gases and carbonic acid and allied services. Tyczka Kohlensäure GmbH & Co. KG is a 100 percent subsidiary of Tyczka Energie GmbH and joined the group after acquisition in 2004.