China New Energy acquires stake in bioenthanol project

1st Jun 2015 10:45

Shares in China New Energy (CNE) leapt on Monday after the engineering and technology firm acquired a 24% stake in Visontai's bioenthanol project in Hungary for €0.25m.The firm has exercised its right to subscribe for the stake, which it holds as part of its supplementary contractual arrangements with Visontai.CNE is contracted by Visontai to design and construct the biorefinery, which is scheduled to enter production in 2017 and will take just over a year to build.It has the right to buy a stake of up to 50%.It will supply its proprietary pre-treatment, fermentation, distillation and dehydration technology to the project and the local project partners will complete the civil engineering and construction of the biorefinery. It will also provide long-term training, support and maintenance.The contract value to CNA is around €34m, of which €11m will be due from local subcontractors.The corn feedstock has already been contracted from Hungarian farmers and long term off-take for the ethanol has been agreed with an international commodity trader.CNE said: "It has been a strategic goal of CNE for some time to buy into a biorefinery project and deliver a recurring income from the sales of bioethanol. "We are delighted to acquire a stake in this European project and look forward to the successful development of the business."