Paraguay President receives updates and new information about ECB Group advanced biodiesel plant project

           Brazilian entrepreneur Erasmo Carlos Battistella explained to Mario Abdo Benítez about Omega Green Project advances in a meeting at Palacio de Los López, in Asunción

             Asunción (Paraguay), September 4th, 2019 – At a hearing held today at Palacio de Los López, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez received information on the progress of Omega Green Project. It is a one of a kind plant for producing advances biofuels – the first on in the Southern Hemisphere – and it is to be built by the holding company ECB Group. At this meeting with the president of Paraguay, the project`s creator, Brazilian businessman Erasmo Carlos Battistella, defined the initiative as a “strategic alliance with the country”.

                 ECB Group’s CEO informed Mario Abdo Benítez that the land for the construction of the plant is already chosen. It will be placed in the city of Villeta, 45 km from the capital.

                 Battistella also reported to Paraguay’s president that the banks that will make the financial structuring of the project are also already chosen. There will be two international banks with a lot of experience in financing large and multinational projects, whose names will be announced in the coming weeks.

                 In addition, requests for environmental permits have already been filed for the start of construction of the plant, which should take place in the first half of 2020. The implementation of the plant is expected to last 30 months, and the intention is to have full production capacity from 2022

                 Another important innovation of the Omega Green Project presented by Battistella to Benítez is about the complex’s technology. ECB Group has decided on a low-power mode of production: of the 300 MW estimated at the beginning of the project, it is now estimated to consume only 40 MW. This is an 85% reduction in the energy required for plant operation.

              The Omega Green complex is budgeted at US$ 800 million and will produce renewable diesel (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, or HVO) and renewable kerosene (Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene, or SPK) for civil and military aviation.

                 The Omega Green project will soon sign contracts with the engineering and technology service providers that will be responsible for the construction of the complex. Announcements from future partners should occur in the future.

                  The project has the potential to attract international capital and add to Paraguayan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over US$ 8 billion over a decade.

                “Omega Green project has taken important steps in recent months, both financially and in technical studies. 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”, said ECB Group CEO, Erasmo Battistella.

               This industrial complex will generate more than 3,000 jobs during its construction and 2,400 direct and indirect jobs during the operation, as well as increased income for local farmers. More than 10,000 families will be benefited through social certification programs of family production.

                 Omega Green will have a daily production capacity of up to 20,000 barrels of renewable diesel and kerosene, being one of the three largest mills of its kind in the world. This volume is enough to cover more than one third of Paraguayan fossil diesel consumption.

Most of this production will go to exporting to Paris signatory countries, which need to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by replacing oil products.

                   A world milestone in sustainability

             The Omega Green project will be a milestone in renewable fuel production by adopting an unprecedented clean and sustainable process. The manufacturing will have as raw material inputs of organic and renewable origin, produced in areas without environmental liabilities, and will be fed only with energy from renewable sources.

             “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,” said Battistella.

                According to the businessman, one of the leading biofuel producers in Brazil and active in agribusiness and renewable energy for over two decades, \"Paraguay has unique conditions to make such a project feasible.\"