Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Two South Korean firms, Eco Solutions and Enviro Plasma, are planning to invest up to USD475 million in renewable energy projects in the Philippines, Dow Jones reports. Eco Solutions is interested in building a jatropha-based bio-diesel plant while Enviro Plasma is keen on an ethanol refinery using sugarcane as a feedstock.

Enviro Plasma is interested in a 500,000-liter refinery, which could cost up to $300 million, in Tarlac province in northern Philippines, said the president of the Philippine Agriculture and Development Corp.

Enviro Plasma will provide 70% of the project cost while its local partner Central Luzon Bioenergy Corp will contribute the remaining 30%. Eco Solutions is considering a bio-diesel processing plant with a daily capacity of 100,000 litres. The project, to be located in General Santos City in southern Philippines, will require an investment of $175 million. (26 May 2009)