Oct 2006 Financial News

RBTT Merchant closes ethanol distillery deal

Oct 26, 2006

RBTT Merchant Bank has signed a deal to finance the construction of an ethanol distillery in St Croix, which will produce a component in cleaner fuels for the US market.

The US$13.5 million syndicated loan was closed with US Virgin Islands company GeoNet Ethanol LLC. The funds will be used for the construction of a state-of-the-art ethanol dehydration facility on the island’s south shore.

Ethanol is derived from corn and sugar cane and its use as a gasoline additive is becoming more widespread as the US seeks to use more sustainable forms of energy and lessen its reliance on foreign oil sources.

The plant will dehydrate fuel-grade ethanol, using an extractive distillation process applied against a hydrous or wet ethanol product. The hydrous ethanol will be supplied by international companies, initially from Brazil. After distillation, GeoNet will ship the dehydrated ethanol to fuel companies in the US.

The GeoNet ethanol dehydration facility will be constructed on the site of the former alumina plant on St Croix, now owned by the St Croix Renaissance Group, and currently operated as an industrial park. The dehydration unit will utilise the site’s existing infrastructure and facilities.

The Trinidad Guardian
Business Magazine
Thursday, October 26, 2006.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/bussguardian11.html