Grupo Potencial, a company from Paraná that produces biodiesel and glycerin, intends to become the world leader in the production of biodiesel in a single plant. To this end, it intends to invest R$600 million to accelerate the expansion project in Lapa, in the Curitiba metropolitan area, to reach a production of 1.6 billion liters of biodiesel per year, encouraged by the new national decarbonisation legislation. Part of the soybeans will be purchased from producers in Paraná. This was announced on Tuesday (8) in Brasilia.
“The energy transition is an irreversible global movement, and our country is making significant progress to ensure legal security, predictability of investments in this sector and thus stability in the energy matrix,” says Carlos Eduardo Hammerschmidt, Vice President Commercial Affairs. The operational and institutional relationships of the potential group.
The announced expansion will add 720 million liters of fuel to the station annually. “In addition to biodiesel, we will increase the production of refined glycerin to 100,000 tons per year, with investments of approximately R$100 million.”
The group is the largest producer of refined glycerin in Brazil, accounting for 60% of national production. With 98% of its production destined for export to over 15 countries, Parana is known worldwide for its high purity product of up to 99.7%.
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Expansion projects have already begun and work is scheduled to be implemented in 2025, to be completed in 2026, which will take the group from fifth place to first place in the world in the field of biodiesel.
In parallel with this movement, Potencial is building a new soybean crusher. The plant will have the capacity to process about 3.5 thousand tons of soybeans per day, or 1.15 million tons per year from 2025 onwards, and together these investments exceed R$2 billion.
Two silos are being constructed to store soybeans, each with a capacity of 150,000 tons, and another silo with a capacity of 100,000 tons to store bran, which is one of the wastes of oil extraction, which can be used in the production of feed and other products and will be sold in local and foreign markets.
Through an agreement with the state government to obtain rebates on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) tax, Grupo Potencial has paved part of the urban roads surrounding the plant and the future crushing plant. After its completion, new docks are planned around the entire area and the construction of a railway station to connect the factory to the railway line that goes to the port of Paranagua. Compagas will also build a gas pipeline to this area. State News Agency
