Angolan bioenergy company Companhia de Bioenergia de Angola (Biocom) plans to produce 73,000 tonnes of sugar, 17,000 cubic metres of ethanol and 200 gigawatt hours of electricity this year, said the company’s production director, Marcos Brandão.

The director of production also told the Angop news agency that the figures for 2017 represent an increase in production compared to 2016, when the company produced 52,000 tonnes of sugar, 14,000 cubic metres of ethanol and 100 gigawatts of energy.

To increase production, Biocom has prepared 18,000 hectares of sugarcane, although it has planned to plant an area of 25,000 hectares by the end of the year, said Brandão.

The Biocom plant, located in the municipality of Cacuso in the province of Malanje, in a concession area of 80,000 hectares, has a maximum daily production capacity of 30,000 to 40,000, 50-kilo sugar bags, although it is still producing between 8,000 and 10,000 bags, depending on the available raw material.

When Biocom reaches peak production in 2020, the company will be producing 256,000 tonnes of sugar, 234,000 megawatts of energy and 30,000 cubic metres of ethanol, which will contribute to Angola’s energy security and increase the supply of ethanol in the Angolan market.

Biocom is a company that resulted from a partnership between Odebrecht Angola Produtos e Serviços, a subsidiary of Brazilian group Odebrecht, the Angolan company Cochan, with 40% each and the state oil and fuel company Sonangol, with the remaining 20 %. (macauhub)