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Z Energy on track to open New Zealand’s first biodiesel plant in June

Z Energy, a New Zealand-based energy producer, is on track to open the country's first commercial scale biodiesel plant in Wiri, south Auckland, in June.

The plant will turn inedible tallow, a by-product of the New Zealand meat industry, into 20 million litres of biodiesel a year, with the potential to scale production up to 40m litres a year.

Z Energy has invested $21m (€19.4m) in the facility and is in the final stages of construction, according to local news website Radio New Zealand News.

Jonathan Hill, spokesman for Z Energy, told Biofuels International: "There is real ground to be taken in that shift away from fossil fuels to more renewable transport fuels. From March, the plant will be producing 20m litres of the very highest quality renewable biofuel you can possibly make.

"There is a real opportunity for business and retail customers to [support] this fuel and make a choice to use it."

The fuel will initially be offered to commercial customers, who'll pay one to two cents per litre more than pure mineral diesel for the privilege.

"What we're saying to New Zealanders is we want to make a difference here, and we're prepared to invest," chief executive Mike Bennett told Radio New Zealand News.





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