Avantium N.V., a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, announces that it has taken a positive Final Investment Decision (FID) on the construction of its FDCA Flagship Plant. The positive FID was taken after the Company fulfilled all three Key Conditions it had defined, which include securing sufficient financing, finalising the engineering and establishing the supply chain, and obtaining sufficient offtake commitments for the Flagship Plant. With the recent signing of a €90 million committed debt financing term sheet, the final outstanding financing condition has now been met.

 

Reaching this milestone marks a defining moment in the evolution of Avantium and will accelerate the commercialisation of PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant will be the world’s first factory to produce FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) on a commercial scale, with a capacity of 5 kiloton per annum. FDCA is the key building block of the 100% plant-based, recyclable plastic material PEF which also has functional advantages compared with fossil fuel derived plastics. Avantium believes that the Flagship Plant, in addition to generating revenues and profits in its own right, will clearly demonstrate the viability of large-scale manufacturing of PEF to consumers, customers and partners. This should pave the way to dramatically expand the applications of PEF, with a potential total end-market of $200 billion per year, which Avantium intends to access by the provision of technology licenses to collaborators worldwide.

 

The positive Final Investment Decision (FID) concludes an intense phase during which Avantium worked diligently on satisfying the three Key Conditions it had defined as necessary to meet, prior to starting with the construction of its FDCA Flagship Plant: (i) securing sufficient financing; (ii) finalising the engineering and establishing the supply chain; and (iii) obtaining sufficient initial offtake commitments for the Flagship Plant. All three Key Conditions have now been met. To get to this point, Avantium has been actively seeking and building partnerships across the value chain – customers, suppliers, governments and financial partners.

 

Tom van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of Avantium, comments on the significance of this milestone: “We highly appreciate the trust our partners, and in particular a strong consortium of Dutch banks, place in our innovative technology to produce FDCA and PEF. By meeting the Key Conditions concerning the construction of our FDCA Flagship Plant, we have reached a pivotal point in our journey to commercialise the next-generation plant-based plastic PEF. Bringing a new plastic to the market is a remarkable feat. With the backing of all our stakeholders, our perseverance, efforts and drive are about to bear fruit. We are excited to be playing an important role in accelerating the transition to the circular economy while building value for our shareholders.”