Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State weekend laid the foundation stone of a $22.3 million (N3.5 billion) dual-purpose bio-fuel refinery in Ipao-Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area, with a promise to transform the industrial landscape of the state so as to generate employment, stimulate agriculture and empower indigenes
Oni said “by the time the three bio-fuel plants become operational, apart from putting the state on the world map as a major bio-fuel/ethanol producing state, the plants would also offer jobs to thousands directly and indirectly. They would also generate electricity.â€
Other bio-fuel projects are located at Ilemeso and Iyemero in Oye and Ikole Local government areas of the state, respectively.
Already, Engevix, Brazil leading EPC engineering firm handling the Sweet Sorghum based ethanol project at Ilemeso Ekiti, has awarded contract for the design of the plant in Brazil. Also, the company has secured funding for the project from the Brazilian Bank for Industrial Development, while 20,000 hectares of sweet sorghum has been cultivated. At Iyemero too, 5,000 hectares of land for cassava has already been cultivated as a prelude to the take-off of the project.
The governor, who assured the Chinese investors of the state government’s cooperation, stated: “Ekiti State has taken a decision to be number one centre for bio-fuel in Africa, and we are not going to leave any stone unturned to achieve this. We are aware of the enormous task ahead of us, as we are not going to dithered in our resolve to lay a solid foundation for what is going to be the most solid and virile economy in this part of the world.â€
He described the project as one of the public private partnership initiatives of the government aimed at attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the rapid economic development of the state.
Daniel Lee, president, FL Engineering, the Chinese technical partner, stated that the refinery would upon completion have the capacity to produce 30, 000 metric tons of bio-fuel per annum, using cassava as raw material, saying it would also produce fuel grade ethanol, with by-products such as organic fertilizer, insecticide, and carbon dioxide.
“The establishment of a bio-fuel refining plant that will not only have 100 percent local content of raw materials but also raw materials that will be available all year round. Even though our idea was quite early in the scheme of things in the governor’s administration, he bought into our idea because he immediately identified in its great economic potentials, and great return on investment for the state, development and industrialisation opportunities for Ekiti State.â€