11/06/2018 11h06

Raízen and Geo Energética announce the construction of a biogas plant supported by Investe São Paulo

The objective is to generate electric energy at the first plant in Brazil to use technology with sugarcane raw materials on a commercial scale

Investe São Paulo

The companies Raízen and Geo Energética have merged in a joint venture to create the first plant in Brazil to generate electricity on a commercial scale from by-products of sugarcane. With an investment of R$ 153 million and expected to generate 20 new job vacancies, the project of the biogas plant was installed in Guariba, approximately 340 km from the capital and in the Metropolitan Region of Ribeirão Preto.

The biogas plant will use the technology of conversion of the filter cake and the vinasse, an innovation that promotes cleaner, more sustainable energy and has benefits for the consumer and for the environment.  Biogas is the result of a complex production process in which it is transformed into electric energy. Purified, biogas can substitute diesel as fuel for automobiles, tractors and trucks.

The project for the plant of Guariba is supported by Investe São Paulo – Agência Paulista de Promoção de Investimentos e Competitividade – aiming at tax incentives. “We are very proud to support such an important and pioneering project for the State of São Paulo,” highlights Sérgio Costa, director of Investe São Paulo.

“With this initiative, Raízen reinforces its pioneering quality in actions of innovation and development of the sector with focus on clean and renewable energies, aligned with public policies, such as RenovaBio. Therefore, we consolidate once more our role as protagonists of sustainability through the circular economy, by taking advantage of all waste and inputs utilized in our processes in the generation of new products,” explains João Alberto Abreu, executive vice-president of the area of Ethanol, Sugar and Energy of Raízen.

“This is a unique, 100% sustainable solution, capable of revolutionizing the treatment of organic waste of the sugar and alcohol industry, which possesses the best operating logistics in the world and is capable of becoming self-sufficient in the generation and consumption of green energy,” explains Alessandro Gardemann, director of GEO Energética. To Evaldo Fabian, also a director of GEO, “Brazil has great potential in this area, because it is capable of producing this green energy during all year, without any damage to the environment.”

About Raízen

Raízen is an integrated energy company that operates all stages of the process: from the cultivation of sugarcane, with the production of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy, to the commercialization, logistics and distribution of fuels. It is a leading producer of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy in the country – with 860 thousand hectares of cultivated agricultural areas – and it is one of the largest in the sector of fuels, with more than 6,200 Shell stations – in addition to 950 Shell Select convenience stores. The company stands out as one of the most competitive energy companies in the world and one of the largest in revenue in the country, with R$ 86.2 billion.

The company has about 29 thousand employees, who work every day to generate sustainable solutions that contribute to the development of the country, such as production of bioelectricity and ethanol of second generation from the by-products of sugarcane. With 26 production units,  Raízen Energia produces about 2.0 billion liters of ethanol per year and 4.2 million tons of sugar. And it commercializes 4.6 million tons of sugar and 25 billion liters of fuel per year, which makes the company the largest seller of ethanol of the country. The company also has 1GW of installed capacity of production of electric energy from sugarcane bagasse and commercializes annually 3.9 TWh of energy.

Raízen Combustíveis is present in 68 refueling bases in airports, 68 fuel distribution terminals and commercializes approximately 25 billion liters of fuel to the segments of transportation, industry and retail. In addition to the 6,200 Shell gas stations and 950 Shell Select convenience stores.

Furthermore, the company maintains the Raízen Foundation, to develop a sustainable and cooperative relationship with the communities surrounding its units, offering professional training, education and citizenship. It was founded more than 15 years ago and has six cores in the countryside of the State of São Paulo and one in Goiás and it has helped more than 13 thousand students and more than 4 million people with actions carried out since 2012.

About Geo Energética

GEO Energética, a company that is 100% Brazilian, initiated research for development of the technology of production of energy and biogas from the byproducts of sugarcane in 2006. In 2012, in partnership with Coopcana (Cooperativa Agrícola Regional de Produtores de Cana Ltda), it implemented its first commercial plant in the northwest of Paraná, with an installed capacity to generate 4 Mws of electric energy from the recycling of vinasse,filter cake and leaves.

The biotechnological solution of GEO was developed in the GEO Energética Center of Research (CPG), in Londrina (Paraná), and was patented in 2009. It is a unique, 100% sustainable solution. The process uses all of the agroindustrial waste for the production of biogas of high quality and high purity content. This biogas is stored and can be used in generators, to produce 100% clean electric energy, to be commercialized on the free market, or to be transformed into biomethane for use as biofuel in tractors, combine harvesters, trucks and buses. The waste from the production of this biogas also does not generate any environmental impact, because it returns to nature in the form of two agricultural by-products: solid organic fertilizer and liquid fertilizer.