• Following the completion of the engineering design study announced in December 2023, NextChem Tech will act as technology integrator for a Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) pilot plant to be implemented in Saras’ facility in Sarroch (Sardinia)
• NextChem Tech will provide the license and the proprietary equipment related to its NX CPO^TM technology to efficiently valorise the off-gases coming from the Fischer Tropsch reactor, boosting the yield of the SAF production
• This contract is a further confirmation of MAIRE’s strategic positioning as technology enabler for the industry decarbonization

Milan, 2 August 2024 – MAIRE announces that NEXTCHEM (Sustainable Technology Solutions), through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, signed a binding Term Sheet with Sarlux S.r.l. – company belonging to the Saras Group – including the main terms and conditions to act as engineering services and technology provider for the implementation of a pilot plant in Sarroch’s facility (Sardinia, Italy). The pilot plant is aimed at producing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), with the potential for scaling-up to an industrial facility.

NextChem Tech will also integrate its own NX CPO^TM technology[1], a cutting-edge solution that makes synthesis gas through a catalytic partial oxidation, into the process. When NX CPO^TM technology is used for synthetic fuel production, it boosts the overall efficiency of the process by recovering and reusing the hydrogen and carbon in the off-gases molecules, thus reducing CO₂ emissions in the atmosphere. NextChem Tech will supply the license and the proprietary equipment, including its own catalyst for this technology.

The agreement also includes a provision for NextChem Tech for to provide high value-added engineering services during the project delivery, the commissioning, and the start-up phases.

Alessandro Bernini, CEO of MAIRE, commented: “This agreement is a clear sign of the soundness of the group's technological value proposition, spanning from licensing and high-value process design services to the supply of proprietary catalysts. This award is a further demonstration of our top-class and broad portfolio of effective technologies that support our clients in their energy transition process.”

[1]NX CPO^TM(Catalytic Partial Oxidation) technology, constitutes a solution for syngas production. Hydrocarbon or biobased feedstocks undergo a controlled partial oxidation in presence of a catalyst that facilitates the conversion into syngas through an entirely heterogeneous very fast reaction.