Austria’s BDI – BioEnergy International AG announced that it will invest EUR16 million (USD18.84 million) to construct a plant to produce algae biomass, as a first step in the implementation of its in-house developed algae technology.

BDI – BioEnergy International is a market and technology leader in the construction of customized biodiesel plants using the multi-feedstock technology the company has developed, which can manufacture biodiesel from different raw materials, such as vegetable oils, used cooking oils and animal fats.

The company said that after several years of research, BDI “has succeeded in bringing an innovative algae production system to industrial maturity.”

Based on BDI’s wide experience in plant construction, a future-orientated in-door breeding system has been developed, which sets technological standards in algae production. Due to the fully closed system, any negative external influences can be eliminated and therefore enable the quickest possible growth of the algae, the company said.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the highly automated plant will be held this year in Ökopark Hartberg/Steiermark, Styria, Austria. The plant’s close proximity to BDI’s in-house research centre and to local universities provides synergies for the further development of the algae product range of BDI – BioLife Science.

As a first step, BDI – BioLife Science GmbH, BDI’s 100% owned company, will produce algae-based additives for the food supplement and cosmetic industry. In the cosmetic and food supplement industry the application of natural ingredients becomes more and more important – the trend is moving towards biological non-hazardous alternatives. BDI – BioLife Science concentrates on the production of natural Astaxanthin. This red colouring agent is recovered from special micro algae and is said to be the “diamond” of radical-scavengers and antioxidants.

“Constant production quantities, as well as highest purity and quality of the algae product are of utmost importance for our future clients – the content must match the label! With the rapidly increasing demand for algae products on the world market, this does not always seem to be the case. Therefore we want to position ourselves as reliable premium producer,” says Edgar Ahn, BDI board member.