Khartoum – Sudan has started using 10% ethanol mixed into petrol and will expand production to continue exporting while meeting the local demand. "Ethanol has been formally recognized as a fuel in Sudan," said the managing director of Kenana Sugar Company, Mohamed El Mardi El Tegani, to ANBA during a conference on food security in the Arab world on Monday (20) in Khartoum, the capital of the African country.
According to him, the sale of petrol mixed with alcohol began last month and the product was named Nile Ultra E-10, in reference to the Nile River – which provides water for agriculture in Sudan – and the percentage of biofuel in the composition.
Kenana is a pioneer in the production of ethanol on a commercial scale in the country and has plans to expand its production considerably. According to Mardi, the idea is to grow from 65 million litres produced annually today to 200 million litres in two years.
For such, the company, which has capital from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Sudan, has Brazilian suppliers of machinery and equipment. The ethanol plant was built by Brazilian company Dedini.
The executive said that from now on it will be easier for Brazilians to provide products to Sudan, since last week the Brazilian Senate approved the rescheduling of the African country’s debt with Brazil, paving the way for export credit granted by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
Brazil pardoned most of a US$ 43.5 million incurred in the 1970s and 1980s, of which US$ 4 million were the original amount and the remains is interest. The agreement negotiated by the governments of the two countries at the end of last year provides for the payment of US$ 4.3 million for Sudan in 12 quarterly instalments. The debt barred the release of funds by the BNDES.
"This is a good opportunity for Brazilian suppliers to enter the Sudanese market," Mardi said, adding that a delegation of Brazilian businessmen will visit the African country soon.
In addition to increased ethanol production, he stressed that the Kenana plans to significantly expand sugar production and the use of biomass for power generation. In the case of sugar, the target is to climb from the current 850,000 tons, produced by Kenana itself and by its White Nile subsidiary, to 2 million tons in five years.
The executive added that he has been talking to Brazilian companies about the production of second generation ethanol, made from cellulose, that is, using biomass.
To develop these and other projects, including a cargo terminal, the company should invest US$ 200 million, as well as another US$ 200 million invested by its shareholders, said Mardi. The initiative to increase the company’s capital is the result of an appeal made by the king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, for investment agencies held jointly by Arab countries to increase their capital by at least 50%. With the investment, according to Mardi, Kenana decided to postpone the share offering it had forecasted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in South Africa.
*Translated by Mark Ament
