The FE Global/Asia Clean Energy Services Fund L.P. and the FEGACE Asia Sub-Fund L.P. have finalized an investment in Biofuels Resources Inc. (BRI), a company established to construct ethanol plants in the Philippines. ”
The Funds will invest jointly with BronzeOak Philippines Inc. in a series of four special purpose companies focused on ethanol production in the Philippines. San Carlos Bioethanol Inc. is the first in this series of investments.
The project will produce and sell 125,000 liters of ethanol daily, using sugar cane juice from local growers as a raw material. One of the most interesting aspects of the project relates to the project’s use of contracts with multiple sugar cane suppliers to secure a stable price for approximately 50% of the raw material needs of the plant.
According to Richard Roberts, Director of FE Clean Energy Group Inc., “The project has a pricing agreement for 50% of the sugar cane that will be used as a feedstock for the plant. The price of this sugar cane will be tied to the sales price of ethanol, thereby lowering the risk of diverging sugar and ethanol prices.” The SCBI project has entered into an ethanol off-take agreement with a prominent Philippine oil refiner. The contract terms provide a guaranteed floor price in USD terms.
The oil refiner’s interest in contracting for ethanol is a result of a law passed by President Arroyo in December 2006 requiring all gasoline sold in the Philippines to contain a minimum of 5% ethanol with an eventual increase to 10% blends by 2010.
Richard Roberts said that the San Carlos deal is an important project for the Philippine Government since “SCBI will be the first fuel grade ethanol plant to be constructed in the Philippines.”
In addition to the sale of ethanol, SCBI will generate electricity for sale to the local electricity distributor through biomass cogeneration using the bagasse from the milled sugar cane.
The Fund’s equity funding for the project totals $7,935,000.
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