Nova Pangaea Technologies reaches operational milestone and looks to expand

Nova Pangaea Technologies, the Redcar based cleantech company, has reached a significant milestone in the technological validation of its first of a kind process to sustainably convert forestry and agricultural residues into sustainable biochemicals and biopolymers and drop-in products for advanced biofuels.

The company received a £4.6m grant from the Department of Transport in 2015 through the Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Competition (ABDC) and following construction of the plant has now achieved 100 hours of operation on its proprietary SARP (steam assisted rapid pyrolysis) technology, in addition to a continuous 24-hour operation in February.

CEO Sarah Ellerby said: “SARP is our proprietary technology and phase three of the REFNOVA process. This demonstrates the robustness of our technology which we will now accelerate onto modular design for scale and customer delivery. SARP produces valuable sugars for downstream product outputs for advanced biofuels and its lignin converts to biocarbons such as biochar.”

Simon Crabtree from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund said: “This is a significant milestone for the company. They have demonstrated that the technology is robust, reliable and economically feasible without gate fees.  The Northern Powerhouse is proud to be part of the syndicate that is taking this step-change technology forwards.”

Sarah continues “with the validation of our technology and the recent breakthrough, we are seeing significant global interest. Since January 2020, we have increased our headcount by 45% and continue to expand the operations and engineering team. We are fortunate to be based in a fast-growing area of the UK with excellent access to the people, skills and technology we need.”

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said: “The role that SMEs play in the development of the low carbon fuel sector is vital on our road to building back better. This is why I’m delighted to see that government funding is supporting cleantech start-ups such as this one to flourish, as we take the all-important steps needed to decarbonise transport.”

Nova Pangaea’s REFNOVA technology sustainably converts forestry and agricultural residues into sustainable biochemicals and biopolymers and drop-in products for biofuels. The technology is a world-first, patented process developed by the Redcar, UK based company.