$6m ethanol project takes shape
www.herald.co.zw September 17, 2018
The National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC) is targeting to complete the construction of two ethanol storage tanks with capacity of 6 million litres at its Mabvuku Depot in Harare by end of December this year. NOIC said the fuel storage gantry, which comes as Government presses ahead with ethanol blending to cut the cost of petroleum imports amid worsening foreign currency shortages, will be constructed at a cost of $6 million. In June, Government increased the mandatory blending ratio of unleaded petrol from 15 percent ethanol to 20 percent with immediate effect following significant improvement in the supply of ethanol from Green Fuel. Increasing ethanol blending thresholds has increasingly become important for Zimbabwe given growing demand for petrol, which is imported, at a time foreign currency needed for the imports is in critical short supply.