Capital Equipment News January 2016

CONSTRUCTION

In the mature phase of the project, the an- nual yield will be around 256 000 tonnes of white granulated sugar (colour IMCUSA 150), 28 000 m³ of anhydrous ethanol (for downstream processing by Sonangol), and 235 GWh of electricity. For BIOCOM, the starting point was to deter- mine which sugar cane plant varieties would be best suited for planting in Angola’s con- ditions. In the end, four varieties of sugarcane were selected following an intensive bio-engineer- ing research study, which took into account farming practices in Brazil, South Africa and India, as well as historical trends in Angola. (In fact, the study revealed that over 33 vari- eties could have been planted.) More than 3 000 soil analyses were un- dertaken over a period of approximately three years at an estimated cost of around US$300 000. (As a BIOCOM agronomist pointed out, there are nine different types of soil present on site.)

All its sugar will be sold locally under the Kapanda brand name – a household product that is certain to inject new energy into the An- golan economy.

The final selection criteria used: the best sugar concentration; the lowest resistance to insects; and the fastest growing species. After extensive land development, the first 1 800 ha was planted in 2012, followed in 2013 by around 3 600 ha, and 3 800 ha in 2014. BIO- COM set a target of 7 300 ha for 2015 with an anticipated sugar yield of 25 000 tonnes.

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JANUARY 2016