Global Bioenergies: Construction of the German demo plant started

Evry, March 31st, 2015 – Global Bioenergies (Aternext: ALGBE) announces having obtained a 4.4 million euro loan from a consortium of four French banks to complete the financing of its demo plant. The construction phase begins today and will last one year.

These past two years have seen Global Bioenergies focusing on scaling up its bio-production process to isobutene. A first phase has consisted in the construction of an industrial pilot on the agro-industrial site of Pomacle-Bazancourt. Successful start-up was achieved in 2014 and the pilot is now fully operational.

The following phase consists in the installation of a demo plant on the petrochemical site of Leuna, near Leipzig in Germany. Global Bioenergies has recently announced having received the corresponding engineering package.

The company today announces the launch of the demo plant’s construction alongside the reception of a 4.4 million euro loan reimbursable over 5 years. This loan has been secured from a consortium composed of BNP Paribas, Société Générale, CIC and Bpifrance. It is covered by guarantee funds of the Ile-de-France Region managed by Bpifrance.

This new financing will cover the purchase of a complete fermentation unit, comprising an inoculation fermenter, a propagation fermenter, and a 5,000L production fermenter. Each are fully instrumented and surrounded by satellite vessels. This unique installation has been specifically designed for the production of gaseous hydrocarbons. It will be installed on the Fraunhofer CBP site within the Leuna refinery. The demo plant’s operation will begin in 2016 under the supervision of Global Bioenergies GmbH, a Leipzig-based, 100%-owned subsidiary of Global Bioenergies SA.

The demo plant’s financing is also supported by a 5.7 million euro subsidy granted end 2013 by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Most of this subsidy is still to be received.

Ales Bulc, General Manager of Global Bioenergies GmbH comments: “The construction phase of our demo plant now begins. It will be delivered in 2016. The first batches will be commercialized in specific niche markets and will also allow the qualification of our renewable isobutene in all its applications. Isobutene and its derivatives today represent a 15 million tonne market globally.”

François-Henri Sahakian, Global Bioenergies’ Chief Financial Officer concludes: “This 4.4 million euro loan has been secured from several of France’s largest banks on the basis of the convincing results obtained on our pilot plant of Pomacle-Bazancourt. Accessing such a significant bank financing testifies of the level of trust Global Bioenergies now inspires to its partners.”

About GLOBAL BIOENERGIES

Global Bioenergies is one of the few companies worldwide, and the only one in Europe, that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation. The Company initially focused its efforts on the production of isobutene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks that can be converted into fuels, plastics, organic glass and elastomers. Global Bioenergies continues to improve the yield of its process and recently announced success with first testing in its industrial pilot. The company also replicated its achievement to propylene and butadiene two members of the gaseous olefins family, key molecules at the heart of petrochemical industry. Global Bioenergies is listed on Alternext, Euronext Paris (FR0011052257 – ALGBE).