Objective
RenewChem will deliver the first industrial-scale facility converting renewable ethanol into long-chain “smart drop-in” bioalcohols, chemically identical to fossil equivalents and fully compatible with existing infrastructure. This innovation transforms a declining market—bioethanol as fuel, subsidy-dependent and politically fragile—into a strategic industrial opportunity, freeing more than 100 European ethanol plants from transport-fuel dependency. The First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) plant will be located in Sines, Portugal, with a capacity of 15,000 t/year, consuming 22,416 t/year of bioethanol as feedstock. With €125.9M CAPEX and €21.8M/year OPEX, it targets an IRR of 11% and an NPV of €34M. Backed by a long-term offtake agreement with Arkema, the facility is expected to generate €30M annual revenues during its first five years, scaling to €70.8M/year from 2032 onwards, ensuring fossil-price parity and de-risked revenues.
The process, based on Guerbet condensation and developed by Catalyxx through 18 years of R&D and >50,000 operating hours, demonstrates ~40% ethanol conversion, >85% selectivity, and purities up to 99.2%. Its proprietary catalyst ensures long lifetimes, regenerability, and scalability, outperforming fermentation (ABE) and oxo-synthesis in cost and sustainability. While the FOAK covers 1.7% of the EU butanol market, replication potential is vast, enabling >45,000 tCO2/year savings. The produced alcohols have immediate downstream applications in acrylates, resins, coatings, adhesives, lubricants, surfactants, and sustainable aviation fuels.
RenewChem benefits from strong industrial and financial backing: Arkema secures a 5+5 year offtake for up to 100% of output, with additional interest from Mitsubishi and Covestro. The technology has already been licensed in India. MoUs and purchase orders for advanced engineering are in place, permitting is scheduled for 2026, and €82.5M financing is already committed, including Beka (€29.5M) and EIC (€7M).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.6.6 - Bio-based Innovation Systems in the EU Bioeconomy
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-IA - HORIZON JU Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-CBE-2025
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
41300 LA RINCONADA - SEVILLA
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.