Animal nutrition company ADISSEO and ENGIE Solutions are working together on the CASHEMIR project, which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the production of methionine, an amino acid essential for animal nutrition. This industrial innovation could launch in 2022 on the ADISSEO site of Roches-de-Condrieu, in south-east France.

The ADISSEO Group develops its industrial units to product methionine while reducing environmental impact. To achieve this goal, the industrial synthesis of methionine requires access to hydrogen. The CASHEMIR project involves the construction, by ENGIE Solutions, of a green hydrogen production unit powering ADISSEO’s production lines. This approach is in line with the European ambitions of the Green Deal.

The project envisages the production of 2,000 tons per year of green hydrogen by electrolysis.

This process uses water as the only raw material and a renewable electricity provided under a contract that guarantees supply from identified sites (a “Corporate Green Power Purchase Agreement”). The entire chain will be secured by blockchain technology, ensuring the traceability of green energy, which will be a first for such high volumes.

CASHEMIR is now a candidate for funding from the European Innovation Fund, which would allow this project of the future to go ahead and benefit the chemical sector in the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region.

In January, Total and ENGIE signed a cooperation agreement to design, develop, build and operate the Masshylia project, France’s largest renewable hydrogen production site at Châteauneuf-les-Martigues in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur South region. (Earlier post.)

Located at the heart of Total's La Mède biorefinery and powered by solar farms with a total capacity of more than 100 MW, the 40 MW electrolyzer will produce 5 tonnes of green hydrogen per day to meet the needs of the biofuel production process at Total’s La Mède biorefinery, avoiding 15,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year.