The construction of the plant on an almost 100,000-sqm area took three years.
“We’re producing an advance biofuel from straw. It’s an over EUR100 million investment, it also benefits from European funding. As far as I know, this is the largest greenfield investment in south-western Romania set to become operational this year,” says Dragos Gavriluta, country manager at Clariant Romania.
According to him, the Podari plant will signal the fact that the technology is commercial and then he intends to sell licenses to investors that grasp the potential of the Romanian market.
One of the major challenges in building the plant was related to the high number of people who worked to raise it, around 900 builders.
The plant has 100 employees and creates jobs in associated fields.
“We have a potential (in Romania i.e.) to be a top player in Romania, a supplier of bioethanol, not just a consumer,” concludes Dragos Gavriluta.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)