Paris, December 5, 2006
Technip has been awarded two turnkey contracts by Diester Industrie for two new biodiesel(*) process production units in France, based on the Axens process. The first contract is for the construction of a new production unit in the Bassens port zone near Bordeaux. The second contract will double the existing biodiesel production capacity of the Grand-Couronne plant, located near the city of Rouen.
Technip, through its involvement and expertise in this sector, is adding its support of the biofuels development program established by the French government in order to reduce both transportation-related air pollution and dependence on imported energy.
These new units will both have a capacity of 250,000 tons/year and are scheduled to go into production at the end of 2007.
These projects mark a new step in the collaboration between Technip and Diester Industrie, the pioneer and leader in France for the production of biodiesel, for whom Technip has already built three units in France between 1996 and 2006 (Rouen, Sète and Compiègne), and is currently carrying out the construction of another unit, in Montoir-de-Bretagne (France).
(*) Biodiesel or Diester, obtained by the transesterification of vegetable oils (sunflower or colza oils), is used in a mixture with diesel oil for diesel engines. Transesterification is a chemical reaction during which a fat or oil is reacted with an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst.
Biodiesel represents a clean and renewable energy.
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With a workforce of more than 21,000 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.
