NRL's Assam Bio Refinery partners change
Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) is confident its bamboo-to-ethanol joint venture, Assam Bio-Refinery (ABRPL), will not be hit by more disruption - despite a change of partners.
On September 23 (2024), Hyderabad-based AM Green Technology and Solutions announced the signing of binding agreements to acquire ABRPL promoters Finland-based Chempolis Oy and Fortum 3, the technology providers for the biorefinery. Oil India subsidiary NRL holds 50% of ABRPL, and the Finnish companies hold 50%.
AM Green's acquisition of both Finnish companies will make it an equal partner with NRL. "Fortum kept NRL informed," says a senior NRL source.
"It is expected to be a smooth transition and will not impact bio refinery progress in any manner." However, not everyone is convinced and some point to the project's history of delays and cost increases.
Incorporated on June 4 (2018), ABPRL initially estimated the project cost at Rs1750cr ($209m), revised to Rs3250cr ($389m), then to a whopping Rs4200cr ($502m). Construction began in 2019 and was expected to be completed in April 2022.
However, the project encountered significant delays because of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. ABRPL revised the commissioning date to April 2023, but supplies and engineering design challenges forced another revision to April 2024.
On August 29 (2024), Oil India chairman Ranjit Rath announced the biorefinery would begin producing by August 2024. NRL sources later speculated the commissioning would be postponed to September 2024.
By early October 2024, there was still no clarity on when commissioning might finally happen, especially given the change in promoters. Will there be a further upward project cost revision? "We cannot say," admits an NRL source, sheepishly.
In its September 23 (2024) announcement, AM Green said it would "establish large-scale biorefineries using multiple feedstocks and producing high-value green products" without mentioning ABRPL. "Chempolis's technology will enable the processing of multiple 2G waste feedstocks and the production of high-value green chemicals and products such as ethanol, furfural, and pure lignin," AM Green added in the statement.