BP Biofuels announced today that it plans to invest $350 million to expand its ethanol processing capacity of Tropical, one of its sugarcane processing ventures in Brazil.

The expansion, which is scheduled to start next year, includes the building of a new mill and is expected to create around 7,650 direct and indirect jobs.

Tropical's processing capacity will double to five million tons of sugarcane producing 450 million litres of ethanol equivalent per year. The mill is expected to be operating at full capacity by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Mario Lindenhayn BP Biofuels Brazil CEO, said: "This expansion reinforces our commitment to the Brazilian sugarcane industry and will enable us to grow our business in the future."

He said: "Since we started operating in May 2011, we have been improving our operational efficiency and this announcement marks a further milestone in delivering our biofuels strategy."

About the investment
  • BP's fully-owned Tropical sugarcane mill is located in Edeia, Goiás State.
  • BP will invest $350 million to double Tropical's processing capacity from 2.5 million to 5 million tons of sugarcane per year.
  • With the expansion, the mill will be able to produce around 450 million liters of ethanol equivalent per year. It will also be able to export approximately 340 GWh of electric energy to the Brazilian national grid.
  • The investment is expected to create around 7,650 direct and indirect jobs, associated with the construction and running of the mill, as well as sugar cane cultivation.
  • The agricultural area for sugarcane cultivation related to the project meets the requirements of the Agro-Ecological Zoning of Sugarcane in Brazil.
Notes to editors

In 2011, BP Biofuels expanded its investments significantly with the full acquisition of Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA). In addition to Tropical, BP operates two producing ethanol mills located in Itumbiara (Goiás State) and Ituiutaba (Minas Gerais State).

About BP

BP is of one of the world's largest energy companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.

Since 2006, BP has announced investments of more than $2 billion in biofuels research, development and operations, and has announced investments in production facilities in Europe and Brazil. The company has a global biofuels technology centre, located in San Diego in the US and is investing $500 million over 10 years in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), at which biotechnologists are investigating applications of biotechnology to energy.

Since 2005, BP has invested more than $7 billion in sectors of the alternative energy industry where we can profitably grow our business. Our investments in wind and biofuels, businesses that are material, scalable, are well-suited to BP's core capabilities. We are also investing in new energy technologies that will ensure BP remains on the leading edge of safe, responsible energy production from all sources.

distributed by