Story by Gay Matambo
THE government remains committed to supporting the ethanol production sector as part of initiatives aimed at ensuring it delivers positive results.
This was highlighted during the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power’s visit to the Triangle Ethanol plant this Saturday, where it engaged with an ethanol producing firm, Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe (THZ).
Portfolio Committee, is touring several electricity generating players across the country.
The importance of ethanol blending, which includes reducing pollution by emission, was brought to the fore during the engagement with the producers being challenged to remain compliant with national regulations.
“We have an ethanol plant and that ethanol plant has a name plate capacity of 40 million litres running in close to 48 weeks in a year. The ethanol plant was commissioned in 1980 by the former late President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and it is still operational, in very sound condition,” Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tendai Masawi said.
“I want to applaud Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe for adhering to issues of safety, environment, and quality. Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe is doing a good job in that regard. Ethanol blending is a substitute to alleviate issues of foreign currency shortages, and it dovetails with the National Climate Policy of 2017, which looks at mandatory blending as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions,” ZERA Representative, Mr Herbert Mataruka said.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee’s visit underscores government’s commitment to supporting the ethanol production industry, which aligns with the Bio Fuels policy of 2019.
“We are doing an inquiry on the Portfolio we are running so we wanted to appreciate these two companies which are producing ethanol which we are using for blending in our fuel. It is important because we know that we have issues with foreign currency so this step which was taken by government that we sell blended fuel helps us to save fuel by blending it with ethanol. The idea for the committee is to understand the process and appreciate how we are getting ethanol and how can we grow the sector so that we are probably able to maintain our blending at about 20%. Currently, it is fluctuating because of the supply of cane. We want to find a way to at least achieve our 20%,” Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power, Honourable Vincent Sihlabo said.
Currently, Green Fuel in Chisumbanje and Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe in Chiredzi are the two firms producing ethanol in the country.
