The President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, announced this Monday the construction of a second Biodiesel II and derivatives plant in the Bolivian city of El Alto, next to the city of La Paz (West), with an investment of 40 million dollars.
“This installation falls within the framework of the government plan’s objective of consolidating the country’s industrialization and gradually reducing diesel imports,” said the Bolivian President at the public laying of the foundation stone for the construction of a modern industry. He was supported by national and regional authorities, social organizations and accompanied by residents of El Alto.
In the Department of Santa Cruz (East), the Biodiesel I plant is being built and the production of the first ecological barrel is planned for this year.
He announced that this company, dubbed “Heroes de Senkata” in El Alto, would be developed by state oil company YPFB, the operational arm of the hydrocarbon nationalization.
The President recognized the City of El Alto as a promoter of the “October 2003 Agenda” which addressed the nationalization of hydrocarbons, the Constituent Assembly and other pillars that will support the management of the Evo Morales (2006-2019) and Luis featured arch (2020-2025).
For his part, the Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Franklin Molina Ortiz, said that the launch of this project was a tribute to those who gave their lives in defense of natural resources, for democracy and for the nationalist vision of this population.
This project aims to make import substitution a reality and drive a real energy transition, reducing fossil fuel consumption and replacing it with green energy.
According to the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, the plant will have a capacity of 1,500 barrels per day of biodiesel, which will reduce diesel imports, subsidies for this fuel and foreign exchange outflow.
In addition, it is expected to create 500 direct jobs and 864 indirect jobs. The work will be carried out by YPFB Refinación and commissioning is expected by the end of 2024.
Biodiesel is a fuel that mainly uses vegetable oils as raw material. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly green fuel due to its low carbon dioxide (Co2) emissions.