British Firm To Set Up $150 M Ethanol Project
A British firm has partnered with the Zimbabwean government to set up an ethanol project in the country next year to the value of $150 million.
The British firm, Sunbird Bioenergy, will set up shop locally and will see the build and growth of an ethanol plant in the country.
The plant will be massive, with an estimated capacity of 120 million liters of ethanol being produced every year. In addition to the ethanol being produced from the plant, the plant will also produce upwards of 33 megawatts of electricity from its biomass.
The idea is to grow Zimbabwe’s shares in the plant exponentially. The Zimbabwean government will start with a 10% stake in the plant which will then grow to a majority stake of 51% within 10 years.
Speaking after signing the deal with government officials yesterday, Sunbird Bio Energy chief executive Richard Bennet said $60 million would go towards plant construction while $90 million would finance the planned agriculture development programme.
“…[sic] We intend to put 40,000 hectares under cultivation and half of that will be set aside for out-growers. We will encourage small scale farmers to grow cassava…Our ambition is to have 20,000 small-scale farmers involved,” he said.
