Colombian Government Announces $342 Million Investment for Ethanol Plants

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--According to a presidential news release, Colombia's government plans to invest $342 million to build three biofuel plants in the departments of Bolivar, Cordoba and Sucre. The plants will have a total capacity of 300,000 liters per day of ethanol.

The project has been developed by Colombia's High Council for Reintegration, the United States Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration. According to the release, the project will have a very important social benefit, which consists of employing 1,500 former Colombian refugees who are currently undergoing a reintegration process launched by the government.

The produced fuel will not only go to the domestic market but also to the international market. Colombia's government aims to have about 20 biofuel plants operating in Colombia within the next 10 years. Julio Cesar Vera, Director of Colombia's Hydrocarbons Ministry, said the country has 44 million hectares of farmland that could be used for biofuel production without affecting the country's food supply.

Biodiesel production in Colombia is being supported by a tax incentive program and new regulations that specify a 5% mixture. Additionally, Colombian diesel will be blended with 10% biodiesel beginning in 2010 and 20% in 2012. Colombia currently produces 1.1 million liters of ethanol per day, making it the second-largest biofuel producer in Latin America after Brazil. According to Vera, Colombia could boost production to 25 million liters of ethanol per day.

In November 2007, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe laid the first stone of the new 300,000-liter-per-day ethanol plant that is being built at the Boyaca Department. The plant's completion date is targeted for the end of 2009, and the fuel will be produced from sugar beet. For this purpose, $270 million will be invested in the whole project while 10,000 hectares of sugar beet will be used.

Apart from this, a 600,000-liter-per-day ethanol plant will be built in Guadas, Cundinamarca Municipality, which is in the central part of Colombia close to Bogota Capital City. About $107 million will be invested in two phases, and the plant is expected to be ready for 2010.

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