Power generation providing spark for ethanol producers

Brazil-based construction business Odebrecht is believed to be planning to separate the cogeneration from its sugar and ethanol operations to create a new bioelectricity company.

Odebrecht currently produces 816MW of electricity by burning the sugarcane bagasse left over from its production of sugar, but it is believed the 2013/14 harvest will be able to generate about 1700GW of electricity.

Sugarcane mills in central and southern Brazil are reportedly considering electricity generation as a more concrete avenue of revenue than sugar and ethanol currently, as the latter two price’s are reaching low levels.