The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) announced today a $65 million loan to Maple Energy to develop a biofuels project in Peru’s northern Piura department. The loan will finance the construction of a distillery that will have a capacity to produce 35 million gallons of ethanol a year, which will be exported to markets in Europe, daily Gestión reported.
The loan will also cover the development of the projects agricultural infrastructure. Maple Energy owns 14,000 hectares in Piura, which it purchased from the regional government and acquired in private sales. More than half of that land, 7,800 hectares, will be used to plant and cultivate sugar cane.
“It is part of the CAF’s strategy to promote clean, alternative and efficient energy,” says Enrique García, the president of Andean Development Corporation.
Maple Energy, an independent energy company with all of its operations in Peru since 1994, will also receive a $25 million loan over 12.5 years for its project from the Inter-American Development Bank. The Netherlands Development Finance Company and Peru’s Interbank have also approved $25 million in financing each.
The total investment required for the project is reportedly $245.4 million. It will directly create 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and employee 500 people when it is fully operating.
