Incbio to supply biodiesel plant to firm in N. Africa's Tunisia

Portuguese biodiesel technology provider Incbio announced it has signed a contract with Biokast Energy S.A to supply an 8,000 metric ton per year (2.4 MMgy) ultrasonic biodiesel plant for installation in Tunis, Tunisia, a small country in North Africa. The plant will employ used cooking oil collected from restaurants in Tunis as feedstock.

 Incbio and Biokast Energy expect the plant to be complete January 2014.

“After a long time spent in the project-planning stage to ensure the client gets the business model right, we have signed the agreement and construction has commenced, which will see Biokast becoming one of the few biodiesel producers in Tunisia,” said José Marques, CEO of Incbio. “Securing a regular supply of used cooking oil and ensuring the plant is able to process it into high quality biodiesel is the key for Biokast’s success and now that this has been secured, we are very happy to have been selected as the technology providers. By processing exclusively UCO, a waste material from the hospitality industry, the plant makes sense not only financially but also from a public service perspective, as it plays a very important role in the recycling industry. By using our ultrasonic based multifeedstock technology, industrial units are able to convert a wide range of raw materials into high-quality biodiesel, exceeding the strict standards of EN14214 and ASTM D6751.”

Mohamed Ali Karoui, Biokast Energy’s CEO, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with Incbio, having scoured the market for available options their proposition made the most sense both financially and technically. We really liked the quality of their plants and their extensive knowledge of this industry. Our experience in the biodiesel market is not very extensive, as such Incbio’s support when we reach the operational stage is going to be very important to ensure our success.”

Biokast Energy was established earlier this year with the purpose of collecting and processing UCO into biodiesel. The first project will be setup in an industrial site in Tunis, and will serve the area, with further projects planned for the near future in other cities throughout Tunisia.