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GUYANA-ENERGY-Trinidadian conglomerate in Guyana cane-to-ethanol deal
PORT OF SPAIN, CMC – The Trinidad-based ANSA McAL conglomerate and the Guyana government are studying the feasibility of setting up a biofuel plant in Guyana to turn sugar cane into ethanol, under an agreement signed more than four months ago, the company said on Thursday.
ANSA McAL and the Donald Ramotar administration are projecting to make 40 million gallons of ethanol a year from two million tons of sugar cane in a vast “agro-energy industrial project” to be built on virgin land.
The company and the government were “currently conducting an in-depth feasibility study, which includes infrastructure and development works; plant and equipment and rolling stock,” ANSA McAL said.
A memorandum of understanding was signed on September 30 last year by top officials of the sides, including ANSA McAL executive Anthony Sabga III, Guyana’s presidential chief of staff Dr. Roger Luncheon and the head of the Guyana Office for Investment, Desmond Mohammed, ANSA McAL said in a statement.
“This ethanol plant is projected to have a capacity to process up to 2,000,000 tons of sugarcane per year and produce up to 40 million gallons (nameplate capacity) of ethanol per year. This agro-energy industrial project will be built on 110,000 hectares of virgin land,” the statement said.
Georgetown is projecting the cane-to-ethanol plant as part of a policy of encouraging economic growth through “environmentally safe and sustainable” development.
“As a result, the government of Guyana and a subsidiary of the ANSA McAL Group, a regional conglomerate, have agreed to partner to establish a world-scale biofuel project.
“The proposed ethanol project will be well positioned to successfully become a low-cost, globally competitive provider of ethanol to international and regional markets,” the conglomerate said.
Both sides are touting a new biofuels industry to bring new service providers, jobs and wealth to Guyana and position the South American CARICOM nation to lead the development of regional policies and standards for using alternative fuels while reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, according to the statement.
The September 2011 signing was also witnessed by Guyana’s then agriculture minister Robert Persaud, ANSA McAL’s group finance chief Aneal Maharaj and Beverley Harper, who heads the company’s interests in Guyana, ANSA McAL Trading (Guyana) Limited.
The ANSA McAL Group of Companies owns 50 firms in five CARICOM member states and the United States, involved in banking, brewing, media, manufacturing, services and real estate.
CMC jg/2012