Rhodia to invest $32.5M in power co-generation project in Brazil
In Brazil, French specialty chemical company Rhodia Energy Services commenced a five-year, $260 million investment program in bioenergy with a $32.5 million investment in a project with Paraiso Bioenergia (Paraiso), the Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer.
Under the agreement, Rhodia will design, co-own, build and operate a biomass thermoelectric facility. The unit will have an installed capacity of 70 MW, and will produce electricity that could supply a city of approximately 200.000 houses. The unit will also supply enough energy and steam to expand Paraiso’s crushing capacity to up to 3.0 million tones of cane per year.
The deal with Rhodia Energy Services, a subsidiary of Rhodia Group, the French chemicals producer, follows a recent partnership between Paraiso and the Brazilian private equity fund FIP DGF Terra Viva, which invested over £22.2m (BRL 60m) to expand Paraiso’s cane crushing capacity from 2.0 to 2.5 million tones per year. Czarnikow advised Paraiso on the deal. Overall, Rhodia is looking to develop 20 installed units in Brazil, as is seeking to build 1000 MW of installed capacity with a 15 percent return on equity.
Category: Fuels
