Ethanol plant to rise near Dung Quat refinery

Construction on a new ethanol plant will in central Quang Ngai Province, in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, will start in August. Land preparation for the 24-hectare construction site, located near the Dung Quat Refinery, began in late April. The plant’s construction is backed by the Central Oil and Gas Biofuel Joint Stock Co., a joint venture between PetroVietnam Tourism and Service Co. (Petrosetco), Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co. and PetroVietnam Finance Co. It was designed to produce some 100 million liters of bioethanol per year from sliced cassava. It will also make by-products including close to 1,500 tons per year of industrial alcohol and approximately 130 tons per day of animal feed. The 1.5 trillion dong (US$87.72 million) facility is expected to earn 948 billion dong (US$54.3 million) per year when it becomes operational in 2011. (April 29/ May 4, 2009)