Primus Green Energy receives $12 Million investment

Developer of a proprietary process to produce petrol and other fuels from biomass and natural gas, Primus Green Energy, has announced the completion of its third round of funding. IC Green Energy, the renewable energy sector of Israel Corp, has invested $12 million (€9.18 million) in the company, raising the total funding since 2007 to $40 million (30.62 million).

'IC Green Energy's financial commitment these past five years has allowed us to proceed toward commercialization in a deliberate, focused manner, secure in the knowledge we are backed by an investor that will also stand behind us over the long-term,' says Dr. Yom-Tov Samia, chairman of Primus Green Energy. 'Now that our technology is in place, we look forward to partnering with additional strategic investors to bring our biomass/natural gas-to-petrol process to market.'

The investment completes the financing required for the integrated single-loop demonstration plant that is currently under construction at Primus Green Energy's Hillsborough, N.J., site. Primus already has a pilot test plant in operation, and is working with Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions regarding the design and operating costs for the construction of a commercial plant, which is planned for 2013.

The scalable technology utilised by Primus Green Energy consists, at the front end, of biomass gasification or converting natural gas to syngas and the back end, its 'STG Plus' (syngas-to-green) gasoline process, a proprietary version of an established fuel synthesis technology. The petrol produced at the company's test facility has been independently validated by 2 third-party industry-testing laboratories. It is 93-octane, with physical and chemical properties adhering to specifications of gasoline.

Primus's technology has significant competitive advantages. The process has a conversion efficiency of 25% and the company expects to achieve a conversion efficiency of 33%. On a commercial scale Primus Green Energy estimates the petrol produced in this manner will be price competitive with that produced from petroleum.

'Today we have no plans for an IPO, but if market conditions are right, we would consider it more closely in late 2013 or early 2014,' says Dr. Samia.