New consortium writes R&D plan for fossil-free production of fine chemicals and specialties

In partnership with NWO, GroenvermogenNL opened the call for fine chemicals and specialties (Work Package 6). How can you use green hydrogen, green electrons and photons to innovate chemical processes to be more sustainable? That is not an easy task. For example, new types of catalysts and reactors are needed. There are also challenges about the use of biobased feedstock as a replacement for fossil sources. Subsequently, the new processes must be competitive and therefore cost-efficient and scalable.

Consortium of 40 companies and institutions

To build the chemistry of the future, GroenvermogenNL called on industrial parties and knowledge institutions to bring their expertise together in one broad consortium. In March, more than 40 parties registered. This has created a very broad consortium that focuses on the innovation phases TRL 2 to TRL 6: from applied research to demonstrations of prototypes.

Two intensive workshops

In April and May, the consortium met for two intensive workshops of 2.5 days each. We organized this together with NWO and the transition management group VanWaarde. Helped by professional leadership and facilitation, good cooperation quickly developed between the participating parties. Companies made their challenges known, on which knowledge institutions can then focus their research and expertise.

Joint project proposal with a sharp focus

The collaborating parties have brought a sharp focus to their project plan. They focus on valorising new value chains with bio-based feedstocks and residual flows, using green hydrogen, green electrons and photons and on the development of widely applicable key enabling technologies and methods to accelerate the sustainable production of chemicals. The aim is to further reduce the costs of these new production processes, to scale them up and to build an ecosystem in which knowledge is shared and sufficient people are trained.

Planning and budget

The consortium will submit the project proposal by 10 July at the latest. GroenvermogenNL has a subsidy budget of € 19.3 available for the project. If approved, the project will start by the end of this year.