Mozambique Renewables Industry: Dutch company produces biodiesel in the country

A factory for producing biodiesel from jatropha seeds started operating last December in the Grudja area of Mozambique’s Sofala province, using a Dutch investment of US$7.5 million, according to Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias.

The factory has capacity to process three tons of jatropha seeds per hour, according to the manager of the NiQel project in Mozambique, Henrich Van Der Merwe.

The main aim of the project, which was launched in 2007, is to produce biodiesel from jatropha planted over an area of 6,5000 hectares, of which 1,600 hectares have so far been planted and 700 hectares are being prepared.

According to Notícias when the entire 6,500-hectare area is used the factory is expected to produce 5,500 tons of biodiesel.

The first harvest, of 120 tons in 2012, was exported to the Netherlands for laboratory testing, whilst in the first half of 2013 production totalled an average of 150 tons.Mhub/mz