Paraguay President BenÃtez updated on Omega Green project
Photo: The Government of Paraguay
September 5, 2019
BY Ron Kotrba
During a Sept. 4 meeting at Palacio de Los López, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez received updates on the Omega Green project from developer ECB Group. The USD$800 million plant will be scaled at more than 300 MMgy—up from previous expectations of more than 250 MMgy—and will produce renewable diesel and synthetic paraffinic kerosene. The volume is equal to more than one third of Paraguayan fossil diesel consumption, although most of the biofuel produced by Omega Green will be exported to Paris Agreement signatories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their respective countries.
At the meeting with Paraguay’s president, the project’s creator—Brazilian businessman Erasmo Carlos Battistella—defined the initiative as a “strategic alliance with the country.”
“The Omega Green project has taken important steps in recent months, both financially and in technical studies,” Battistella said. “This venture will be a milestone not only in renewable energy, but also in Paraguay's economic development. More than an investment, we are promoting an alliance with the country.”
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The project has the potential to attract international capital and add more than $8 billion to Paraguay’s gross domestic product over 10 years, according to ECB Group. The complex will create more than 3,000 jobs during construction and 2,400 direct and indirect jobs during operation, as well as increased income for local farmers, the company says. More than 10,000 families will benefit through social certification programs of family production.
Battistella informed President Benítez that the land on which the new plant will be built has already been selected. It will be located in Villeta, 28 miles from Paraguay’s capital of Asunción.
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Battistella also advised the president that the two international banks financing the project, whose names will be announced soon, have also been chosen. Furthermore, environmental permit requests have been submitted and construction is on track to begin by end of Q2 next year. Construction is expected to take 30 months, and ECB Group anticipates full operation in 2022. Contracts with engineering and technology service providers are expected to be signed soon.
Another important innovation of the Omega Green Project presented by Battistella to President Benítez is about the complex’s energy consumption. ECB Group has decided on a low-power mode of production, reducing the original energy estimates required for plant operation by 85 percent—from 300 megawatts initially calculated, to 40 megawatts. According to ECB Group, energy to power the plant will come exclusively from renewable sources.
“Paraguay has unique conditions to make such a project feasible,” Battistella said. “Our goal is to have the cleanest and most renewable production possible among the world’s most advanced biofuels, certified by the strictest international quality and sustainability criteria.”
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