LIAN, Batangas–Absolut Distillers Inc., a beverage company controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan, plans to invest P500 million in a sugar mill and biomass plant, an executive said Tuesday.
“The next would be setting up a mill so that we can buy cane and take advantage of its bagasse to run a cogeneration biomass boiler plant,” Absolut Distillers chief operating officer Gerardo Tee told reporters during the launching of the company’s bioethanol plant.
Tee said the investment in biomass plant would be a part of the company’s expansion plan into the renewable energy sector.
Absolut Distillers on Tuesday launched a new 30-million-liters-per-annum bioethanol facility in Lian.
Tee said the construction of the sugar mill and cogeneration plant with power generation capacity of 3 megawatts to 4 MW would to take nearly two years.
“We will start construction as soon as funding is available,” Tee said.
The sugar mill is estimated to produce 1,800 to 2,000 metric tons of sugarcane juice per day. The mill will crush the sugar cane and process the juice into bioethanol. Bagasse from the sugarcane will be used as fuel for the cogeneration power plant.
“The mill can also use sweet sorghum,” he said.
Absolut Distillers will supply bioethanol from the newly completed bioethanol plant that is utilizing molasses as feedstock to small oil players Seaoil Philippines and Flying V.
“Even prior to the passage of the Biofuels Law of 2006, we already have a blue print of the project. We only waited for the right time. Finally, well-defined rules were integrated to the implementing rules and regulations of the law, so we think now is the time to begin the operations of the facility,” Tee said.
Ethanol is used in the gasoline blend and comes from agricultural crops such as sugar. The Biofuels Act of 2006 mandated a 10-percent ethanol blend in gasoline.
Companies are importing bulk of their requirements to to comply with the government’s E10 requirement for gasoline.
The Philippines has an annual demand of 400 million liters of bioethanol but production from local players reaches only 222 million liters.
The Energy Department, however, mandated the oil companies to acquire ethanol from local producers before resorting to importation.
“We see a great opportunity to provide fuel-grade ethanol with the opening of this facility. It also reflects our continuous commitment to green energy as we continue to provide a sustainable environment to the community,” Tee said.
Absolut Distillers last year also launched the first two megawatt solar power generation plant in Batangas. The first renewable energy investment of ADI is a biogas production facility established in the 1990s.
Absolut Distillers was established in 1990 under Absolut Chemicals Inc., which was engaged in the manufacture of ethyl alcohol and liquefied carbon dioxide as fermentation by-products used for producing soft drinks.