Sudzucker Moldova Company launches first Moldovan bio ga plant
The Sudzucker Moldova Company launched 20 September the first Moldovan plant for producing bio gas at industrial scale.
Attending the official inauguration ceremony were Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Corman, German Ambassador to Moldova Matthias Meyer, as well as a member of the Suedzucker AG Management Board, Dr. Thomas Kirchberg (Germany).
Dr. Thomas Kirchberg said that the Sudzucker Moldova Company is a full-fledged member of the European holding Sudzucker Holding GMBH. In this context, he voiced hope that Moldova would also become a full-fledged member of the European Union.
The new bio-gas plant, constructed with the help of Czech specialists will allow using with maximal efficiency the waste products obtained in the result of sugar-beet industrial processing and transforming them into ‘green energy’ and organic fertilizers.
The production capacity stands at 8 million cubic meters of bio gas in a year, which will allow covering about 15% of the company’s energy needs. The bio gas plant will produce thermal and power energy needed to cover its demands during the production season, whereas in other periods of the year, it will supply energy to a distribution grid.
The produced biogas, together with the natural gas purchased by Sudzucker Moldova will be burned in the combined heat and power supply plant of the factory, whereas the power energy and the steam will be used in the sugar production. The budget of the project is 7.6 million euros. The investor hopes to make back the money in five years.
Sudzucker Moldova constructed the biogas plant within the frameworks of a project for enhancing the competitiveness of the Moldovan sugar on regional and European markets, by decreasing the energy consumption and the production expenses. The company is also contributing the fulfillment of Moldova’s Energy Efficiency Strategy, compiled in line with the European Union directives and aimed at reducing the energy use by 20% by 2020 and at ensuring 20% of energy use from renewable sources.
Infotag’s dossier: The Moldovan-German joint venture Sudzucker Moldova is the leader of sugar production sector in Moldova. The company owns currently 3 sugar factories. 2 sugar factories in Drochia and Falesti are involved in sugar production, while the sugar factory in Alexandreni avails of a modern logistics and packaging centre. In 2012 the company produced 53.4 thousand tons of sugar, which is 64% of total sugar production in Moldova.
The main shareholder of the company is the European corporation Sudzucker AG, the largest sugar producer in Europe. This concern owns sugar factories in Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.
The volume of investments allocated for sugar production in Moldova during the activity of the company is more than 600 million lei. As a result, electricity costs were reduced about twice. The turnover of the company exceeded 1 billion lei in 2012/
Besides Sudzucker Moldova, there are two other leading companies on the national sugar market – MagtVest (with factories in Glodeni and Donduseni), which holds a market quota of 32% and Moldova-Zahar (Cupcini) – a share of 29% on the national market.