The Montpellier Métropole area is now home to the world’s first industrial-scale microalgae biorefinery. Created in Baillargues by Microphyt, laureate of the France 2030 Première Usine call for projects, the production unit was inaugurated on July 11, 2025, in the presence of its ten European partners, marking the culmination of four years of scientific, technological, and industrial collaboration as part of the European SCALE project, supported by the Horizon 2020 program and the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU, predecessor of the CBE JU).
Equipped with 5,000 m² of infrastructure and featuring exclusive photobioreactor technology, this biorefinery enables large-scale microalgae cultivation under controlled, sustainable, and efficient conditions. Designed to produce more than 100 tons per year of natural active ingredients, the unit targets the health, nutrition, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and animal feed markets.
FSSC 22000 certified and in compliance with the most demanding cosmetic quality standards, it adopts eco-responsible practices, such as solar self-consumption and circular resource recovery, thus representing a new model of bio-industrial production with a low environmental footprint.
“Montpellier Métropole has supported you for nearly 20 years. Seeing this success and emulation further demonstrations that our area is looking toward the future. Your company is helping to build a more resilient and desirable future. You check all the boxes with regard to our MedVallée initiative, which is designed to create a global hub for excellence in global health,” said Hind Emad, Vice President of Montpellier Métropole, in charge of Economic Development and Digital Technologies.
The inauguration was attended by nearly 80 distinguished guests, including key players in innovation and experts from the biotechnology sector. Microphyt’s two co-founders were also present: Arnaud Muller-Feuga and Michel Lemar cut the ribbon, symbolically kicking off the launch of this unit, which marks the company’s entry into a new strategic phase.
“With our biorefinery, we are delivering on an ambitious vision: an industrial model based on sustainability, innovation, and the power of microalgae. SCALE is much more than a technology project. It is a tangible response to the major challenges of our time in terms of health and well-being, ecological transition, and industrial sovereignty. We are proud to be a part of this dynamic emanating from France and to actively contribute to the European bioeconomy,” concluded Vincent Usache, CEO of Microphyt.
