Investment.
Labeled by the Trimatec competitiveness cluster, the Salinalgue project aims to grow a native micro-alga - Dunaliella salina - on a large scale (in an open environment on unexploited salines) and its biorefining in order to market different bioproducts, including a biofuel from third generation.
The project was first to use the old Salins du Midi basins on the Gard coast. But it is finally in Aude, on the Gruissan site, that the first crops will see the light of day this fall, again in the old saltworks of the Salins du Midi.
The first pools were built in an open environment and by the sea, and cultivation of the micro-alga Dunaliella Salina will begin this fall. The project allows both to envisage industrial production for the bioenergy sector and has the advantage of revalorizing old salt pans and therefore maintaining the existing ecosystem.
Gruissan's equipment represents a first industrial pilot, which will ultimately lead to an industrial deployment which will take place from 2015, on another site not yet defined, but which could include several thousand hectares.
Salinalgue is mainly supported by Biocar, a subsidiary of Compagnie du vent (GDF-Suez group) and brings together a dozen players, SMEs, large groups and university laboratories.
The entire project mobilizes 5 million euros which will be invested over five years.
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