Replacement of filter presses for the leading agar-agar producer in Morocco

SETEXAM is a family-owned company founded in 1960, specialized in the harvesting of seaweed for export, providing innovative products to the food, biotechnology, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. With the assistance of Japanese partners, the company operates an agar-agar extraction plant, utilizing a polysaccharide derived from red algae, to produce 100 tons of food-grade agar annually.

The process of manufacturing agar-agar unfolds as follows: collection of Gelidium, soaking/washing, extraction, filtration, cooling/gelation, vertical/horizontal pressing, drying, and grinding. Pressing is a crucial mechanical step in the agar-agar manufacturing process, enabling the separation of solids from liquids.

To improve productivity and reduce energy consumption, SETEXAM has decided to modernize its equipment by replacing the old manual vertical filter presses with two high-efficiency automatic horizontal membrane filter presses. This renovation has resulted in a reduction in natural gas consumption for drying, enhancing the competitiveness of the company while also reducing the water discharge rate and consequently easing the burden on the wastewater treatment plant.

This investment, carried out with funding and technical assistance from GEFF II, has also enabled the company to improve resource efficiency and generate an annual monetary gain of approximately €75,000 by reducing natural gas consumption in the drying plant and increasing the production capacity of agar-agar extracted from red seaweed by almost 7%. This renewal has also resulted in annual energy savings of 617 MWh and reductions in CO2 emissions of 150 TCO2/year, a saving of 25% compared with the old manual filters.

Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) in Morocco is a green economy financing program, implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will provide financing to Moroccan private enterprises through local financial institution partners. Supported by the European Union (EU), the Green Climate Fund (GCF). It will enable local companies to invest in green technologies, reduce their costs through climate adaptation measures, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.