Solutions

Power & Fuel from Sugar Cane: First All-Inclusive Production in the US

Our Client

Sugar cane is one of the primary sources of ethanol. Highly successful in Brazil, where almost all new cars are equipped with ethanol-compatible engines, ethanol fuel from sugar cane is renewable and burns cleaner than gasoline. Sugar cane also has a higher Energy Return On Investment (EROI) than corn, the primary US ethanol source, due to its ~30% greater concentration of sucrose and easier extraction process.

Our client, an energy production and marketing company, is actively developing an integrated energy bio-refinery in Hawaii, one of the prime sugar cane growing regions of the world. The project includes operating a 7,500 acre sugar plantation/mill and an ethanol plant to produce fuel ethanol for sale in Hawaii. Additionally, the bagasse (biomass after sugar cane refining) will provide a fuel source for power generation. The facility is intended both to provide 100% of the island of Kauai’s requirement for motor fuel blending and 30 megawatts of green electric energy, in what is the first such integrated opportunity in the USA.

Hawaii has the highest power costs of the nation, as well as significant state and federal tax credits towards ethanol plants. Our client will not only benefit from these favorable pricing and incentives, but from their locally-based control over the supply chain.

Engagement

Our client has engaged Brock Capital Group to advise and manage a $47mm equity private placement to fund its developing energy project.