Itochu, Felda Palm to produce biomass fuel from palm oil waste

24 November 2009 12:36  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japanese trading house Itochu Corp has signed a contract with Felda Palm Industries of Malaysia, the world’s biggest palm oil processor, to form a joint venture in Kuala Lumpur to produce solid biomass fuel from empty fruit bunch (EFB), the firm said on Tuesday.

The two firms would create a new company named FNI Biofuel and planned to establish a 24,000 tonne/year plant at Johor in Malaysia, producing the fuel known as EFB pellets, Itochu said.

The unit was expected to come on stream in the autumn of 2010, Itochu added

A large quantity of EFB – palm oil waste - is co-produced in the process of palm oil extraction, Itochu said.

The trading firm had already signed a contract with an unnamed Japanese power company for the sale of EFB pellets to use as a fuel for industrial boilers, it said.

This marked the world’s first commercial attempt at producing solid biomass fuel from EFB, according to Itochu.

Itochu and Felda Palm Industries will have 49% and 51% shares in FNI Biofuel respectively, according to Itochu.

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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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