Bioethanol plants commissioned in South Sulawesi

South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo commissioned two bioethanol material processing plants set up by a South Korean company in two districts in the province. The two plants, technically called Integrated Post-harvest Porcessing Unit (IPPU), were built over the past two years by South Korea’s PT EN3 (Environment, Energy, Engineering) Green Energy in Gowa and Takalar districts. The plant in Gowa has a production capacity of 25,000 chips per year and the one in Takalar can process 75,000 chips per year. The vegetable materials were being cultivated on a total of 7.5 hectares of attached plantations, grown by local farmers and bought from local suppliers. The President Director of the South Korean company, Park Chang Ho, said that if no significant problems were met in the operation of the two IPPUs, his company would begin preparations to build a third factory in South Sulawesi in 2010, with an investment of about US$50 million. (August 7, 2009)