The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), approved last week a R$87.75 million (USD21.4 million) loan to finance a biomass power cogeneration to be developed by Granol Industria, Comercio e Exportacao SA.
The total estimated investment of the project is R$97.5 million (USD23.8 million).
The plant, to be located in Anapolis, Goias state, will use pine wood chips and reforested eucalyptus as raw material. The goal of the plant is to reduce the company's dependence on the local electric utility and lower total operating costs related to the purchase of electricity.
Granol has been active since 1966 in the biodiesel sector, among other industrial areas such as oilseeds. Nowadays, Granol is within the top 50 largest agribusiness companies in Brazil.