Fuel-Ethanol Distillery and Powerhouse to Be Built at Mexican Sugarcane Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--An ethanol distillery and a powerhouse will be built at the Ingenio Presidente Benito Juarez sugarcane refinery in Cardenas in southeastern Mexico's Tabasco state. The addition of these areas will be accompanied by improvements in the sowing and harvest of sugarcane, as well as an increase in the plant's milling capacity. The modifications will be carried out over a period of eight years and will cost about $150 million.

The projects were announced after Organizacion Ardila Lulle (Bogota, Colombia) acquired 51% of the facility. The company already owns, among other businesses, three sugarcane refineries in Colombia. The remaining 49% stake of the plant is owned by Grupo Azucarero Mexico SA (Mexico City), which owns three sugar refineries, as well.

About 850,000 tons of sugarcane is processed every year, yielding 80,000 tons of sugar at the Cardenas plant, where there are no distillation or power generation facilities. A fuel-ethanol distillery is planned for 2013; however, the production capacity and investment have not yet been determined. The powerhouse is expected to be operational by the end of 2012. It will utilize sugarcane bagasse, and the production capacity will be approximately 30 megawatts, which will be used partly to power the plant. The remaining energy will be sold to the grid. The project will cost about $50 million. The engineering, procurement and construction contractors will be selected in 2010, and construction is set to begin in late 2011.

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