NNPC signs MoU with Ondo on bio-fuel plant

By Tope Musowo

Lagos

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ondo state government to establish a 65,000 million litres per annum bio-fuel plant in Okeluse, Ondo state.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, on the Corporation’s website yesterday.
The statement indicated that the Governor of Ondo state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, led a delegation from his state to the NNPC Towers, Abuja, for the MoU signing ceremony.
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, according to the statement, said the project “is not fully an NNPC subsidiary and that some investors are also bringing in Foreign Direct Investment into the country for the project.”
Akeredolu expressed confidence that the bio-fuel project would take off for the benefit of the people of Ondo and the country in general.
He assured that the state had enough farmers as well as cassava to sustain the plant, stressing that his visit was to show his commitment to the project.
On the benefits of the project, the GMD said the construction of the plant and the production of cassava feedstock could create “at least one million jobs directly and indirectly.”
‘Reduction of fuel import, a boost in the production of animal feeds from by-products of the plant and a reduction of greenhouse gas emission to combat global warming” were other benefits listed by Baru.
He also allayed fears of any possible negative impact of the plant on the supply of cassava-based foods for human consumption.
Baru stressed that the cassava that would be used for the bio-fuel project is a special breed that would not be in competition for human consumption or interfere with the activities of farmers cultivating other breeds of cassava or indeed other crops.
“Your Excellency, we have already discussed with you and you have agreed to make 15,000 hectares of land available towards the cultivation of this cassava. It will, of course, in the process invite people who are used to farming cassava as well as new entrepreneurs who want to go into that business to participate in the cultivation of the cassava that we are going to use for the production of the fuel ethanol.
“We expect that this plant, when built, will be producing at least 65 million litres per annum of fuel ethanol that could be blended into our Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and will be used in Nigeria and neighbouring countries when exported,” he said.

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