AB Bioenergy France (ABF), part of the Abengoa group, celebrated the foundation stone laying ceremony at the bioethanol production facility site in Lacq, in the south of France last week (23 May).

The Lacq facility will be capable of producing 200,000 tons per year of bioethanol utilizing corn and wine alcohol as raw materials, and it is being constructed on the basis of the French Government having awarded an overall tax relief on 100,000 tons.

It is the first bioethanol facility in Europe that will utilize corn as the raw material, something that is very common in the United States. The investment to be made is approximately 180 million euro. The first phase (40,000 tons) is scheduled to come into production in 2007, with the plant's maximum production capacity to be reached in 2008.

Abengoa Bioenergy holds a 56 percent stake in AB Bioenergy France and the remaining shares are held by Aquitaine Industrie Innovations, Euralis, Etablissements Lacadée, Lur Berri, Maïsadour, Vivadour and Agpm. Abengoa Bioenergy will manage and control its subsidiary in France.

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