Sarawak, province in Malaysia, takes the regional lead in the biomass-based industry with the setting up of South East Asia’s fi rst commercial scale 2nd generation bioethanol and biochemical plant. Brooke Renewables and its consortium of partners will be investing $1 billion over the next fi ve years to develop the Sarawak Biomass Hub project.
The MOU between Hock Lee Group and Biochemtex Agro is to establish a dedicated biomass plantation that is sustainable, self-suffi cient and in compliance with globally-accepted standards. This biomass resource is renewable and provides the bioethanol and biochemical plant secured feedstock to ensure long-term operations of the plant.
The tri-party LOI signed is for the use of Beta Renewables’ Biomass Conversion Technology and Novozymes’ Exclusive Enzymes Solutions in the 1st 2G Bioethanol and Biochemical plant in Brooke Renewables’ proposed Sarawak Biomass Hub project.
The development of the Sarawak Biomass Hub is in line with the Malaysian government’s vision underlined in the National Biomass Strategy 2020, which emphasizes on the capitalization of biomass by channeling it into higher value downstream uses. This strategy provides the roadmap for utilizing some of the 100 million tons by 2020 of by-products produced annually by palm oil plantations alone, to create high value new industries.
