Zimbabwe’s largest ethanol producer, Green Fuel, plans to spend US$1 billion on expansion projects. A portion of the funds will be spent on upgrading its current plant which will increase its capacity to 20 million liters. Approximately US$560 million will be spent on the construction of an additional two plants with a combined capacity of 40 million liters per month, and US$400 million will be spent on developing 40,000 hectares of farmland giving the company a total of just under 50,000 hectares within the next seven years. Once the project is completed, Zimbabwe, which uses 400 million liters of fuel per month, will be able to stop all petrol imports. Since its inception in 2009, Green Fuel has invested US$320 million into the project. Currently, the plant, which began operating in 2012, produces 10 million liters of ethanol per month and its own electricity for the plant and farms. In August of last year Zimbabwe introduced a mandatory blending regulation of 5% and by October of last year raised the requirement to 15%. Within that three month period Zimbabwe realized a savings of US$20 million on fuel costs. Until Green Fuel is able to ramp up production, the government has had to revise the requirement to 10%.
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