ZIMBABWE will save approximately US$60 million a year by establishing ethanol storage facilities in different parts of the country, the state-owned National Oil Infrastructure Company (Noic) said this week.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday commissioned a US$7,3 million ethanol storage and handling facility at Noic’s Mabvuku depot that the parastatal says will help save foreign currency.
The two containers have capacity of three million litres each, doubling Noic’s ethanol handling capacity by over 100%. Zimbabwe uses ethanol to blend its fuel.
The facility would also create employment and provide wealth generation opportunities in the biofuel value chain, Noic acting chairperson Innocent Chiganze said.
“Storage facilities such as this will help with achieving annual savings on foreign currency to US$60 million,” he said.
“The increased production of ethanol will result in increased jobs in the agriculture sector and on top of the production of ethanol if ethanol production is increased; there is merit in considering the development of additional facilities in different parts of the country.”
Chiganze said the oil firm was also spearheading the construction of a Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage facility in Ruwa.
“In response to the increased household and industrial use of LPG on the local market, Noic commenced construction of a 2 000-metric-tonne storage facility in Ruwa. The project is being implemented in two phases,” Chiganze said.
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“The first phase entailed the establishment of a storage capacity of 500 metric tonnes. This was completed in September 2023. The second phase of the project plan will be implemented in 2024. This will ensure that at all times, we have adequate sources of LPG to meet national demands.
“These projects here today consist of the following devices; two ethanol tanks of nearly three million litres each, ethanol receiving and loading pumps, a pump shed, a control room, a trunk of a shed, blending meters, and fire foam pumps.”
Noic, according to Chiganze, is also upgrading the Feruka oil pipeline capacity in conjunction with Companhia do Pipeline Mozambique - Zimbabwe Limitada (CPMZ) of Mozambique.
“In conjunction with CPMZ of Mozambique, we started the capacity upgrade from the current 2,19 billion litres per annum to 3 billion litres per annum. Progress on the project on both sides is commendable,” he said.
“We are on course to increase capacity by April 30 2024. Going forward, in response to demands, there is an agreement in place for the CPMZ to increase this capacity to five billion litres per annum.”
Speaking at the commissioning of the ethanol tankers, Mnangagwa said this would facilitate the increased opportunities in the bio-fuel value chains.
“I must mention that the other day, when I was with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi, they were eager that we facilitate the supply of fuel to Botswana through our infrastructure and extend it to Botswana,” he said.
"On the same vision, President Ramaphosa feels that, if we extend this to Botswana, we would want another pipeline to branch from Gweru to supply Northern South Africa.
“So, these things are in the pipeline. All and above driving our income substitution policy, preserving foreign currency, and creating employment, empowerment, and work generation opportunities across the biofuel value chain, such a facility consolidates the prevailing fuel availability and stability of the nuclear fuel subsector in our economy.”
Mnangagwa said due to the mutually beneficial relationship between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the upgrading of the Feruka pipeline was progressing well.
“Due to the long-standing, mutually beneficial relationship between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the National Oil Infrastructure Company and CPMZ are synchronising the capacity upgrade of the Feruka Pipeline, for seamless efficiencies,” he said.
