Our Activities

Abengoa Bioenergy is a benchmark company in the development of new technologies geared towards the production of biofuels and the sustainability of raw materials, channeling to such end a tremendous amount of resources into research. The presence of a trading division means that the company is also a service provider capable of offering global solutions, with impressive capacity for marketing and managing commodities, reliably backed by its global production and raw material procurement capacities and highly efficient operations – cornerstones that afford reliability and critical mass, which are key to optimum business development.

Abengoa Bioenergy contributes to sustainable development by marketing fuel compounds obtained from renewable sources (biofuels) through the use of environmentally-friendly technologies that help bring about a net reduction in polluting emissions, for use in both public transportation and private vehicles.

The company develops innovative technological solutions through continuous R&D investment. These solutions are put into practice in production processes, allowing the company to enjoy the same production costs as for conventional fossil fuels, while affording our DGS coproduct a distinct competitive edge.

Abengoa Bioenergy honors its commitment to creating value for shareholders and contributes to the personal and professional development of its employees through continuous training as well as by setting up and overseeing individualized plans.

Abengoa Bioenergy creates new opportunities for sustainable rural development by providing incentives for energy crops and the creation of farming industries, thus helping to maintain employment and income levels in rural areas.

Bioethanol and biodiesel are renewable and clean energy sources which, for some time now, have proved to be a reliable and effective replacement for gasoline and diesel fuel in vehicle engines, while also helping to diversify and improve the security of the energy supply. Their use, either in a pure state or blended with fossil fuels, reduces CO2 emissions, slows down climate change, and reduces the emission of polluting agents into the environment.

The company’s activities can be grouped into six main areas:

• Procurement of raw materials.
• Bioethanol origination.
• Production.
• Comercialization of bioethanol, DGS and sugar.
• Electricity cogeneration. New technologies.

 

Raw Material Procurement

One of the driving forces behind the positive business results reported by the Bioenergy business unit is the procurement of raw materials for producing biofuels.

As it currently stands, the most important grain cereals for the production of bioethanol at Abengoa Bioenergy’s plants are wheat, barley, corn and sorghum, not only due to their alcohol yield, but also their significant protein yield (DGS), highly valued in the livestock feed sector. For biodiesel production, the most frequently used oils are soybean and palm.

Since operations began, Abengoa Bioenergy has managed to build up a wealth of experience in both the supply and logistics of commodities. It has displayed great prowess and versatility both on the international stage and when purchasing within the domestic market, and has also secured direct supply agreements with farmers, thus ensuring the unit’s plants have the volume of materials they require. Similarly, the company has in-depth knowledge of all applicable rules and regulations governing operations in the European Union and North America.

Abengoa Bioenergía Brasil grows sugarcane while ensuring sustainable rural development, biodiversity and regional economic growth. Its subsidiary company, Abengoa Bioenergía Agrícola, ensures that the company’s production plants are properly supplied by signing contracts with landowners, carrying out the necessary work for combined use of the land, and with farmers, by providing the necessary resources and advice in order to start up production.

 

Bioethanol Origination

In addition to Abengoa Bioenergy’s bioethanol production capacity, which is marketed by the trading companies, the latter also carries out bioethanol origination from third-party producers to add this product to the pool, thus allowing for greater flexibility and competitiveness in terms of the customer portfolio.

 

Production

Bioethanol is produced in plants across Europe, North America and Brazil. Bioethanol is obtained from cereal grains through chemical processes and treatment, to produce either ETBE (a component of all types of gasoline), or for direct blending with gasoline to obtain biofuels, either e85 (a mixture of 15 % gasoline and 85 % bioethanol) or e10 (90 % gasoline and 10 % bioethanol).

The coproduct DGS is also obtained from the bioethanol production process. This high-protein compound is obtained by extracting starch from cereal grains and is ideal for producing livestock feed.

The production of bioethanol from sugarcane also returns sugar as a coproduct. This sugar is processed to make it suitable for human consumption and for further use in producing other food products.

 

Commercialization of Bioethanol and Coproducts

Abengoa Bioenergy has operations in key locations for worldwide bioethanol trading and exports, namely Rotterdam (the Netherlands), affording immediate access to the Europoort; St. Louis, MO (USA), right in the heart of the country’s main cereal production and cattle breeding region; and in São Paulo (Brazil), the birthplace of bioethanol-from-sugarcane production. Through all these facilities, Abengoa Bioenergy is able to meet the bioethanol, DGS and sugar demands of the European, North American, and Brazilian markets.

Market fluctuations, prevailing political conditions throughout the different territories and other factors affecting operations in terms of procuring raw materials and producing the products to be commercialized, are all carefully analyzed from a global standpoint in order to give us a better vision of the global market. Meticulous analysis and risk management improve the performance of corporate processes, always within the context of sustainable development, and respect for the environment, human rights and the community remains one of the company’s guiding principles. Abengoa Bioenergy is therefore able to offer its customers the option of selecting solutions best tailored to their needs by providing the necessary reliability and flexibility throughout its bioethanol supply process.

 

Electricity Cogeneration

Some of the current bioethanol production facilities also feature electricity cogeneration systems. Either natural gas or sugarcane bagasse is used to generate the steam and electricity required to operate the plants. At present, the plants in Spain, the Netherlands and Brazil feature generators that produce more than enough electricity to meet the needs of the plants themselves, and the plants in France and the United States are soon to follow suit. The surplus electricity is fed back into the power grids of the country in question, further enhancing the profitability and sustainability of the facilities.

There is currently a project under construction in Hugoton, Kansas, that will mark another step forward in the field of cogeneration by employing agricultural waste as raw material, thus squeezing the most possible out of available resources.

 

New Technologies

Abengoa Bioenergy fully intends to become a leading figure within the bioenergy sector and a worldwide producer of biofuels. Its mission is to develop innovative technological processes for producing bioethanol and associated coproducts. To this end, it works to develop production and processing technologies, with unbeatable and highly efficient operational practices.

The human team of engineers and scientists, who coordinate their work with other R&D centers, universities and industrial partners, develops innovative processes in order to increase the performance of grain-based bioethanol, develop new coproducts, improve the quality of existing products and develop lignocellulosic biomass technology for bioethanol production. As part of its business strategy, the company creates and registers intellectual property to provide technology to third parties under management agreements.

 

Projects by Territory

Europe

Abengoa Bioenergy currently operates five bioethanol production plants in Europe, three of which are located in Spain, one in France and one in the Netherlands. It also operates a biodiesel production plant in Spain.

Abengoa Bioenergy is the European leader in bioethanol production as biofuel usage. Its plants in Spain are: Ecocarburantes Españoles in Cartagena, Murcia; Bioetanol Galicia in Teixeiro, La Coruña; and Biocombustibles de Castilla y Leon in Babilafuente, Salamanca, which have a total annual installed capacity of 40, 52 and 53 Mgal (150, 195 and 200 ML), respectively.

Its Biocombustibles de Castilla y Leon plant in Babilafuente, Salamanca, also includes a second generation bioethanol plant capable of producing 1.3 Mgal (5 ML) of bioethanol a year from biomass. It is the world’s first plant to utilize this kind of technology on such a scale.

The company believes that the shortest path to developing technology for producing second generation biofuels is through “hybrid plants”, which combine first and second generation facilities to cut the cost of implementing new technologies and harness the advantages offered by economies of scale.

 The biodiesel production plant in San Roque, Cadiz, has been designed to operate with different kinds of vegetable oil - soybean, rapeseed and palm - and does not therefore depend on just one supply source. The plant boasts a total annual installed capacity of 200,000 t of biodiesel and 18,500 t of glycerin.

Following the start-up of this new plant, Abengoa Bioenergy now has the necessary biodiesel market knowledge and production technologies, cementing its leading role in forging a global biofuel market for the transportation industry.

In addition, Abengoa Bioenergy, through Abengoa Bioenergy France, has now consolidated operations in its French plant, which has a production capacity of 66 Mgal (250 ML) a year and utilizes corn and low-quality vegetable alcohols as raw materials.

Abengoa Bioenergy Netherlands (ABN) has started up its plant at the Europoort, Rotterdam, Europe’s largest bioethanol plant and one of the largest in the world, with a projected annual grain-to-bioethanol production capacity of 127 Mgal (480 ML). Apart from bioethanol, the Europoort plant has an annual DGS (distiller’s grains and solubles) and high-quality CO₂ production capacity of 360,000 t and 300,000 t, respectively. The CO₂ is transported through pipelines to the various greenhouses in the region and is used to help grow crops, thus reducing reliance on natural gas, enhancing sustainability and cutting total GHG emissions.

The facility also features a grain loading system, which includes a 600 m conveyor belt to transport the grain from the jetty to the plant. This system allows the company to unload small vessels, ranging from 1,000 t, to 600,000 t Panamax-type ships. ABN has a capacity of over 55,000 t at its own grain silos, enabling it to store a grand total of 1.2 Mt of grain per year.

In addition to marketing bioethanol, Abengoa Bioenergy continued work over 2010 on a bioethanol supply network in Europe, primarily in Spain and Germany, with over 20 directly supplied points in each country. This network is key to expanding the reach of bioethanol, and although the project is still in its early stages, it promises to become an undisputed reality within the next few years, capable of supplying biofuels to consumers across Europe.

 In May 2010, the IX World Biofuels Conference was held in Seville, bringing together representatives from the main biofuel producer associations in the United States, Brazil and the European Union.

The conference tackled numerous pressing issues, with highlights including the sustainability of biofuel life cycles and the associated raw material procurement process, along with the necessary verification mechanisms for ensuring this sustainability; the globalization of biofuel markets; raw materials and the current state of existing conversion technologies to bring second generation biofuels further into the fold.

Abengoa Bioenergy secured a €13.6 M subsidy for its Sustainable Biorefinery Project from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation as part of the CENIT program. The BioSos project aims to tackle the entire biomass value chain, ranging from generation of the initial resource to final market-ready products, with special attention paid to production, primary transformations into intermediate products and transformation of these intermediate products into final market-ready products. It also attaches particular importance to developing studies and honing the tools needed to ensure the sustainability of the developed solutions.

March 2010 witnessed the start of the Lignocellulosic Ethanol Demonstration (LED) project, funded by the European Commission within the context of the Seventh Framework Program. The project is being developed by a consortium of five companies from four different countries and has Abengoa Bioenergy at the helm.

It not only envisages the design and construction of a biorefinery to produce second generation bioethanol from cereal straw, but also the use of such fuel in public vehicle fleets and the use of the lignin contained in the raw material to produce high valued added products. The project marks an important step forward in terms of the technology required to market and sell second generation bioethanol successfully.

Furthermore, Abengoa Bioenergy is one of the chosen members of the first Executive Committee of ePure launched in November 2010. ePure is the association of European renewable ethanol producers and is essentially a fusion of two former European bioethanol associations, namely UEPA and eBIO. As with eBIO, ePURE is an industrial association run by bioethanol producers, but while eBIO focused solely on bioethanol as a biofuel, the work of ePure, and UEPA for that matter, extends to all bioethanol uses, including not only biofuels, but also beverages and industrial applications.

The company operates the following production facilities in Europe:

Ecocarburantes Españoles

The company Ecocarburantes Españoles SA owns a bioethanol production plant in Valle de Escombreras in Cartagena, Spain. Abengoa Bioenergía SA owns 95 % of the company, while IDEA, the Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings, owns the remaining 5 %.

Part of the CO₂ produced during the grain-to-ethanol transformation process is sold to facilities close to the plant, thereby eliminating the need for these companies to produce their own additional CO₂ and, therefore, making the bioethanol production process even more efficient and curbing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Similarly, electricity is generated during the production process, which provides power for the entire plant, with the surplus fed to the national power grid.

Bioetanol Galicia

The plant, which is owned by Bioetanol Galicia SA, is currently in operation in Teixeiro (A Coruña) and boasts a yearly bioethanol production capacity of 52 Mgal (195 ML). The company is 90 % owned by Abengoa Bioenergy and 10 % by Xes Galicia.

The surplus electricity generated during the bioethanol production process, which greatly outstrips actual plant consumption, is fed to the national power grid and accounts for part of the profits from the process.

Biocarburantes de Castilla y León

The plant, owned by the company Biocombustibles de Castilla y Leon SA, is located in Babilafuente, Salamanca, and has a yearly production capacity of 53 Mgal (200 ML).

As with the other Spanish plants and in accordance with applicable law, plant-generated electricity that is not employed in bioethanol production is fed to the power grid.

Abengoa Bioenergy France

Abengoa Bioenergy France owns Abengoa Bioenergy’s fourth ethanol production plant in Europe (the first outside Spain). It is 69 % owned by Abengoa Bioenergy and 31 % owned by Oceol, an association of the region’s main agricultural cooperatives and industries.

This plant employs corn and low-quality vegetable alcohols as raw materials and is located at the Petrochemical Platform at Lacq, Pyrénées-Atlantiques (France). Projected total annual bioethanol production capacity amounts to 66 Mgal (250 ML), broken down into 53 Mgal (200 ML) using corn as the raw material, and 13 Mgal (50 ML) produced from the distillation of lower-quality vegetable alcohols.

Abengoa Bioenergy Netherlands

The Bioenergy business unit has started up operations at the Europoort bioethanol plant in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with total investment amounting to €550 M. The company Abengoa Bioenergy Netherlands was set up to manage and operate the 127 Mgal/year (480 ML/year) grain (corn) bioethanol plant, currently the largest in Europe and quite possibly the world.

The plant also produces 300,000 t of high-quality CO₂ per year. The CO₂ is transported through pipelines to the various greenhouses in the region and is used to help grow crops, thus reducing reliance on natural gas, enhancing sustainability and cutting total GHG emissions.

The geographic location of the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest, where the Rhine and Meuse rivers reach the sea, makes it the main hub of European trade. Its unrivalled location allows for exports by river into central Europe and to Nordic destinations and the rest of the world by sea. The plant currently provides permanent work for 84 employees.

Abengoa Bioenergía San Roque

 Abengoa Bioenergy’s San Roque plant is located on a site annexed to the Gibraltar Refinery on the Palmones de San Roque industrial estate (Cadiz, Spain). It was started up in February 2009 and started supplying the refinery in March.

It has been designed to operate with different kinds of vegetable oil - soybean, rapeseed and palm - and does not therefore depend on just one supply source. The plant produces 200,000 t of biodiesel, which is utilized in 5 % blends with diesel at the Cepsa refinery. The plant also produces 18,500 t of glycerin with 85 % purity. The plant provides direct employment to 55 highly qualified workers.

Biomass Plant

Managed by Abengoa Bioenergía Nuevas Tecnologías, the purpose of the plant is to produce biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. It is the first plant in the world to operate this kind of technology for commercial ends. The plant is located within the Biocombustibles de Castilla y Leon plant, meaning that both facilities share common services and process chains. The plant is currently operating continuously, using wheat straw as its raw material. The ethanol it produces is distilled to 42 % and then concentrated and dehydrated.

The facility is being used to improve the design of commercial plants to be constructed in years to come, gauge operational costs, identify bottlenecks and streamline operations.

 United States

Abengoa Bioenergy is one of the leading bioethanol producers in the United States. It currently boasts an annual installed production capacity of roughly 380 Mgal (1,440 ML), distributed among its six plants located in Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Indiana and Illinois. Abengoa Bioenergy is also one of the main marketers of ethanol and DGS for animal feed. It has built up an extensive network of customers, including the likes of Shell, Exxon-Mobil, Total, Valero and BP. Most of the ethanol is marketed in the form of e10, although sales in e85 have been increasing steadily.

The unit’s three longest standing plants continue to operate under the control of Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation, and are located in Colwich, Kansas, Portales, New Mexico, and York, Nebraska. However, a number of different companies have been specially incorporated to operate the new plants in Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois, and also the future commercial biomass plant in Hugoton, Kansas. Similarly, separate companies have been created for marketing, engineering and construction activities.

The Indiana bioethanol plant has already entered into operation. The plant is located near to Evansville, Indiana, in the so-called Corn Belt and next to the Ohio River, one of the country’s main river routes. The bioethanol and DGS produced on-site can be transported by truck, train or boat to supply the markets on the eastern side of the United States, or exported to other markets. The plant currently employs 56 workers and produces 90 Mgal (340 ML) of bioethanol and 230,000 t of DGS per year.

The Abengoa Bioenergy Illinois plant in Madison is sited next to the Mississippi River, one of the main communication and transport arteries running through the US Midwest. The plant was brought online at the start of the year. The facility gets through 825,000 t of cereal grain per year as raw material and produces 90 Mgal (340 ML) of bioethanol and also 230,000 t of highly durable DGS, thanks to its cutting-edge pelletizing systems. It currently employs 52 permanent workers.

Abengoa Bioenergy Trading US has leased a new storage terminal with an approximate capacity of 2.6 Mgal (10 ML). Located on the Houston Ship Channel, the terminal allows for loading and unloading to or from train, truck, barge and ship, while also providing direct access to international waters, thus opening up imports and exports to and from the United States. It also complements the company’s bioenergy hubs in two other major international ports, namely Rotterdam in Europe and Santos in Brazil.

The year 2010 also saw Abengoa Bioenergy start up maritime exports of bioethanol from the United States to Southeast Asia. The ship Bow Faith carried Abengoa’s cargo along the Houston Ship Channel and on to its final destination in Asia.

The company strives to implement best practices in order to streamline all its processes, improve performance and minimize risk in production, marketing and R&D. Prime examples of the company’s success in this field are the official accolades that the various North American unit companies received in 2010.

Abengoa Bioenergy US Operations received the Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois Award, a distinction illustrating the trust the public authorities place in the company. The award was presented to Abengoa Bioenergy of Illinois at a ceremony held on May 6, 2010. The prize is awarded yearly to individuals and organizations from southwest Illinois that have reached impressive milestones and displayed leadership along the way. Abengoa Bioenergy of Illinois was specifically singled out as a leader in sustainable biofuel technologies and for its production capacity. It was similarly praised for its newly constructed state-of-the-art plant, which not only provides jobs but also marks a “leap forward in the nation’s search for energy independence, while also benefitting the environment”.

Moreover, the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce awarded Abengoa Bioenergy of Illinois its EDIE economic development award for its work on the Madison plant. The EDIE distinction is awarded yearly in various different categories in recognition of projects from the preceding twelve months that have made a major contribution to economic development. Abengoa Bioenergy of Illinois was awarded the prize in the Energy category. More specifically, the prize was awarded for the company’s heavy capital investment in a project that creates new jobs and bolsters the state’s economy.

CSX Transportation, one of the leading US transportation firms, providing rail and intermodal services for the transportation of goods, awarded the company Abengoa Bioenergy Operations the annual Chemical Safety Excellence award for its operating facilities, an accolade that reflects the company’s commitment to maintaining and promoting the safety of motor vehicles and its continuous safety processes when loading tank cars.

All the plants of Abengoa Bioenergy in North America, save for the new facilities in Indiana and Illinois, which are currently undergoing official certification processes, have integrated OHSAS with ISO 9001:2000, 14001:2004 and 18001:2001 standards, reflecting the unflinching commitment of Abengoa Bioenergy Operations to quality, safety and the environment. This set of rules is a verifiable health and safety system and was sought to reflect the company’s desire to have a standardized occupational health and safety system in place that can be used for the purposes of certification and registration. With the initial audits now finished, the companies operating the plants in Indiana and Illinois and the trading company have now met the necessary requirements to secure ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification. All US plants are now registered under these standards.

The company operates the following production facilities in the United States:

 Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation – Colwich

This is one of the three operational plants fully owned by Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation in North America. The plant currently operates at 100 % capacity and continues to report excellent efficiency and consistent operations. Production capacity amounts to 25 Mgal/ year (95 ML/year), achieved through continuous batch cooking and fermentation processes. The CO₂ generated is captured and refined by an on-site client. The plant currently employs 44 highly qualified workers.

It is one of the oldest dry mill bioethanol facilities in the United States, having been operating non-stop for the last 25 years. The DGS it produces is not dried in the process and 100 % of the coproduct is sold in its natural state. The plant can process corn and sorghum at the same time and 50 % of its energy requirements are covered with methane from a municipal solid waste landfill.

 Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation – Portales

Expansion work was completed in 2006 to double production capacity by utilizing batch cooking and fermentation processes, with two separate distillation and dehydration stages. The DGS it generates is not dried in the process and 100 % of the coproduct is sold in its natural state. The plant can operate with corn and sorghum simultaneously. Annual installed bioethanol production capacity of 30 Mgal (115 ML). The fully operational plant employs 48 highly qualified workers.

Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation – York

The plant currently operates at 100 % capacity and continues to report excellent efficiency and consistent operations. More than 50 % of the produced CO₂ is captured and refined by an on-site client. The facilities also provide services and logistical support to Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies’ adjacent pilot biomass plant. Annual production capacity amounts to 56 Mgal (210 ML), achieved through continuous batch cooking and fermentation processes. The plant currently employs 54 highly qualified workers.

Abengoa Bioenergy of Nebraska

The subsidiary Abengoa Bioenergy of Nebraska, wholly owned by Abengoa Bioenergy, is responsible for operating the Ravenna plant in Nebraska. Construction on the plant got underway in 2005 and was completed in 2007. The plant is currently operating at 100 % capacity according to specifications and boasts an installed bioethanol capacity of 90 Mgal per year (340 ML), achieved through continuous fermentation. It employs 56 highly qualified workers. The facility is the first in North America to utilize continuous fermentation technology.

The project includes a double railway circuit for simultaneous loading and shipment of 2.6 Mgal (10 ML) of bioethanol in 95 tank cars.

The plant is designed to recycle all process water, which is then treated and made ready for reuse. The plant therefore consumes less water, produces minimal pollution and therefore has the minimum possible impact on the ecosystem.

Abengoa Bioenergy of Indiana

The plant is located near Evansville, Indiana, in the so-called Corn Belt and next to the Ohio River, one of the country’s main river routes. The bioethanol and DGS produced on-site can be transported by truck, train or boat to supply the markets on the eastern side of the United States, or exported to other markets.

The Indiana plant currently employs 55 workers. When operating at full capacity, it consumes 825,000 t of corn, and produces 90 Mgal (340 ML) of bioethanol and 230,000 t of DGS per year.

Abengoa Bioenergy of Illinois

The Abengoa Bioenergy plant in Madison, Illinois, is sited next to the Mississippi River, one of the main communication and transport arteries running through the US Midwest. The facility generates bioethanol and DGS from corn and gets through 825,000 t of cereal grain per year as raw material. It produces 90 Mgal (340 ML) of bioethanol and 230,000 t of DGS per year and provides employment to 52 workers.

Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas

The aim of the Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas project is to construct a plant capable of producing 25 Mgal (95 ML) of cellulosic ethanol and 120 MW of renewable energy from biomass (mix of agricultural waste, wood waste and non-food energy crops). The plant will be located to the west of Hugoton, Kansas, and will create 170 permanent jobs. The Hugoton project is expected to slash CO₂ emissions by approximately 1.7 Mt a year, and is scheduled to be commissioned towards the end of 2011.

Brazil

Brazil is one of the world’s largest markets for bioethanol, and bioethanol production is expected to continue growing sharply thanks to the success of flex-fuel vehicles, which currently account for nearly 90 % of vehicles sold in Brazil and which can run on either gasoline or bioethanol.

Abengoa Bioenergy is the only company worldwide that operates in the world’s three largest bioethanol markets: Europe, the United States and Brazil. Having streamlined operations in Brazil, the company is reporting sharp growth in production throughout all its existing plants. It is also weighing up the merits of constructing a new plant and is marketing its production overseas more effectively, thanks to the sales networks the company has in place. Moreover, the company is making technological advances and improving sugarcane bagasse to cellulosic ethanol technology so as to increase production in the mid-term and cut costs efficiently.

The company currently operates three plants: two sugarcane-to-bioethanol plants, with an annual installed capacity of approximately 53 Mgal (200 ML) of ethanol and 642,000 t of sugar, and one plant that produces 30,000 t of sugar and 25,000 t of molasses.

The company is striving to incorporate best sustainability practices, and to reflect this, Abengoa Bioenergía Brasil has staged the first Environment Week (SIMA) in Brazil. The event, which involved 1,500 collaborators from both industry and agriculture, took place during the second week of June and was intended to raise workers’ awareness of the need to protect the environment.

SIMA was also attended by numerous companies and public bodies. The week included various entertaining activities related to environmental protection, rounds of interactive questions and answers with the collaborators and informative talks on the environmental goals of Abengoa Bioenergy, and on how society and local communities can help to preserve the environment.

Abengoa Bioenergía Brasil, with head offices in the city of São Paulo, started exporting bioethanol from Brazil to Europe and the United States in 2009, and has been steadily stepping this up over 2010. This important step forward, which is being coordinated alongside Abengoa Bioenergy Trading Europe and Abengoa Bioenergy Trading US, has allowed the company to arbitrage bioethanol sales between its main markets, and also localize new markets and opportunities. This move strengthens the company’s standing worldwide, with production facilities and trading presence in the world’s top three bioethanol markets.

As part of its drive towards sustainable development, Abengoa Bioenergía Brasil has completed construction on two state-of-the-art power cogeneration facilities with an installed capacity of 70 MW, one of which can be upgraded to 140 MW. The raw material for these two plants is sugarcane bagasse, which is fed into the boilers to produce steam. The steam is then used to generate electricity in order to feed the production processes. The cogeneration plants are located in the state of São Paulo, one at the São Luiz plant in the city of Pirassununga, and the other at the São João plant in the city of São João da Boa Vista.

The company operates the following production facilities in Brazil:

Abengoa Bioenergia São Luiz

During 2010, operation of a 70 MW cogeneration plant started, using sugarcane bagasse as raw material. The plant is annexed to the existing ethanol and sugar production plant.

Abengoa Bioenergia São João

During 2010, operation of a 70 MW cogeneration plant started, using sugarcane bagasse as raw material. The plant is annexed to the existing ethanol and sugar production plant.

Abengoa Bioenergia Santo Antônio de Posse

This particular sugar and molasses production plant only accounts for business and sales within Brazil, albeit to a lesser extent than the other plants operating in the country. The company is currently streamlining processes to up operational performance.