Bio Base Europe

Bio Base Europe Training Centre on Track for 2011 Opening

Unique state-of-the-art training and educational facility will complete second phase of Bio Base Europe plan, consolidating Europe’s leading centre of expertise for the bio-industry

Gent, 27 October 2009 – Bio Base Europe, the Biopark Terneuzen and Ghent Bio-Energy Valley joint initiative launched in April 2009, has said its new bio-focused Training Centre is on course to open in early 2011. The Bio Base Europe initiative will be the first of its kind to include both a Pilot Plant and a Training Centre dedicated to bio-based industry and aims to support and accelerate the development of a sustainable bio-based economy in Europe. It is the largest Interreg project ever granted to the Dutch-Flemish border region and is set to transform the region into the main bio-economy gateway in Europe.

Representing an investment of 8 million euros, the Bio Base Europe Training Centre will house the facilities and expertise to provide education and training for process operators, and is intended to become Europe’s leading knowledge centre on the bio-based industry. It will also focus on promoting and enhancing public awareness of bio-based technology and its contribution to society.

The new Training Centre is jointly co-funded by Interreg IV (the European Union interregional development programme), the Flemish (BE) government, and the Dutch government and Terneuzen local authorities. It will be based in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, and is on course to be operational by the first quarter of 2011.

In keeping with its sustainability focus, the Training Centre facility will be an entirely self-reliant energy efficient building based on renewable solar and wind energy.

Peter van den Kieboom, Project Manager of the Bio Base Europe Training Centre commented: “We believe this is a genuine industry-first, and we have not come across a similar project to our Training Centre anywhere in the world. Developing a sustainable, bio-based economy is vital to Europe’s long term prosperity and our aim is to support this by being the recognized centre of excellence providing training, education, knowledge-sharing and expertise to Europe’s bio-industry.”

Training and education will be at the heart of the new centre’s activities with plans to run standard and custom-tailored multi-language courses in English, French, Dutch and German. Courses will be designed to complement existing courses offered in schools and technical colleges, but will provide added depth and focus and ultimately aims to address the current industry-wide shortage of qualified bio-based process operators and technical maintenance specialists. Participants for the training course will include people currently working in the bio-based industry, students from the surrounding region looking to supplement their education with a bio-focused specialization and also trainers and teachers from secondary and vocational technical schools. The facility will include an extensive array of testing and production apparatus for bio-fuel and renewable energy production including bio diesel, bio ethanol, bio gas, wind turbines, photovoltaic cells and heat exchange pumps offering students expanded possibilities to train more extensively with operating equipment.

The Training Centre will also function as a networking and knowledge-sharing centre for the bio-industry, linking companies, technicians, entrepreneurs and research institutes with each other and with the information they seek. To further develop this, an intensive program of monthly seminars and congresses will be held.

Finally, the centre aims to increase public awareness of bio-based technology and bio-based products and processes in general. This will involve a range of promotional initiatives targeting students, the general public, NGOs and government bodies that will for example include school visits to promote bio-based technical career opportunities. Moreover, Bio-Based companies will be able to showcase specific projects in the dedicated exposition area within the facility which will be open to the public.

The Bio Base Europe Training Centre will employ 3 full time staff together with some 12 part-time professional staff that will be recruited from partnering second and third level educational institutions in the region. It plans to have a new managing director on board before the end of 2009.

“The Bio Base Europe project will transform the Gent-Terneuzen Canal Zone into the most important centre for the bio-based economy in Europe.

Bringing the new Training Centre on-stream is the second key step in our plan and it will boost the output of skilled operators and technical maintenance specialists the industry needs. This, together with the Pilot Plant will help speed up the transition to a sustainable, bio-based economy,” said Van den Kieboom.

A detailed calendar of the comprehensive range of training course and seminars on offer will be available online by mid-2010, in advance of the official opening.

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Notes for editors


About Biopark Terneuzen

Established in February 2007, Biopark Terneuzen is an initiative that represents new thinking in the creation of biobased industrial sustainability. Biopark Terneuzen was initiated by the Zeeland Province, Zeeland Seaports and the participating industrial parties. Building on the economic and knowledge transfer advantages obtained through the co-location of associated businesses, Biopark Terneuzen raises the platform to a higher level. Its core mission is the development of the biobased industry in the Kanaalzone. One of the ways to pursue this goal is smart linking. That promotes and facilitates the exploitation of key synergies between its partner companies. Specifically the potential to exchange and utilise each other’s by-products and waste streams as feedstock or utility supplements for their own processes. This contributes to their productivity, to the conservation of non-renewable resources and the reduction of environmental burden. For further information please visit: www.bioparkterneuzen.com.

About Ghent Bio-Energy Valley

Ghent Bio-Energy Valley is supporting the development of sustainable biobased activities in the region of Ghent, Belgium. Ghent Bio-Energy Valley is a joint initiative of Ghent University, the City of Ghent, the Port of Ghent, the Development Agency East-Flanders and a number of industrial companies that are active in the fields of the generation, distribution, storage and use of bio-energy and biobased products. Ghent Bio-Energy Valley is a leading European initiative for the development of the biobased economy of the future. Ghent Bio-Energy Valley promotes the development of the biobased economy through collaborative programs, joint initiatives and synergy creation between the partners in the fields of Research & Development, structural measures and policy, logistics and communication towards the general public. For further information please visit: www.gbev.org.

About Interreg IV

Interreg IV is a 2007-2013 programme funded by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), to advance cross-border cooperation and stimulate sustainable social-economic development in European border regions. The steering committee of the Dutch-Flemish Interreg IV program that assigned the Bio Base Europe initiative among others consists of deputies for international cooperation of the eight Dutch - Flemish border regions as well as a representative from both the Dutch and Flemish governments. For further information please visit: www.grensregio.eu.

For further information please visit: www.biobaseeurope.eu.

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EMG

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