Biofuel: an essential component of Colombia’s energy security

Colombia

Diego Gaitán Rebolledo, director of industry and business development for Bioenergy, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s background, its current production capacity and the strategies it is implementing to enhance productivity. Bioenergy is a biofuels company and Colombia’s largest ethanol producer.

Tell us about Bioenergy’s background and its current production capacity.
Bioenergy is a Colombian company founded in 2012 which is dedicated to the production of biofuels from sugarcane. One could say we are the largest producer of ethanol in Colombia, with one of the most technologically sophisticated ethanol production plants in the world.
After filing for bankruptcy in 2020, we managed to obtain a USD 5-million loan from Bancolombia, our largest creditor, while Primax granted us a prepurchase agreement for ethanol valued at USD 5 million to operate while in bankruptcy. We were later bought in 2022 by an investor group.
We are located in the Orinoquia region, on the east side of the country, which is a very fertile territory. We have about 18,000 hectares [180,000 square metres] of sugarcane from which we produce ethanol. The last harvest was 850,000 tonnes.
In 2024, we aimed to reach 1 million tonnes of cane. The nominal capacity of the plant is 480,000 litres of ethanol production per day. Today, however, we operate it at about 504,000 litres per day, which is 5% above design, and in 2025, we are increasing its capacity to 600,000 litres per day.
The plant operates around 150 days per year. The days on which it operates are determined by the harvest period. The harvesting and the cane crushing only runs for five months yearly due to the climate.

What strategies is Bioenergy implementing to enhance its productivity?
We are looking to increase capacity with two options. One is to increase the operating time by storing the inverted molasses. The other is to increase the capacity of the distillery. We could even do both. The former option would allow us to operate in the rainy season.
This technique is called high-tech molasses, in which 100% of the sugars are transformed into fructose to prevent them from crystallising. They can then be stored, and after the harvest period, the feed is produced from the stored molasses instead of from the mill.
We are now expanding the capacity of the plant to 600,000 litres per day. Tentatively, in 2025 we will ramp up production capacity to 750,000 litres. It is easy to increase the capacity of the plant. Investments can be made from one year to the next. However, in the field, increasing cane productivity to feed the factory takes time.
To this end, the company has been improving the technological package for sugarcane cultivation. We have made laudable efforts when recovering our fields.
The idea is to keep increasing and renewing the crops. Our agricultural team has been working very hard to develop a specific technological package for the conditions of the Llanos Orientales based on studies of the soil, the meteorology and the climate of the region.
Productivity has increased substantially. This year it produced 58 tonnes per hectare [5,800 tonnes per square kilometre] versus 43 tonnes per hectare [4,300 tonnes per square kilometre] we obtained a few years back. In 2024, we increased from 614,000 tonnes, to 720,000 tonnes, to 850,000 tonnes this year – of which 50,000 tonnes remained in the field. We currently have a real production of 900,000 tonnes.
In 2025, we expect to produce 1 million tonnes and have a yield per hectare of about 70 tonnes. We currently produce 80 million litres per year, but there is plenty of room for growth. We have been increasing the plant’s capacity to hopefully reach an annual production of 150 million litres in the coming years.

Tell us about Bioenergy’s zero disposal concept and emissions?
Bioenergy was a project conceived as a company with zero final disposal. There is no waste, and it is a zero-liquid-discharge plant. This comes to say that all the byproducts that come out of the industrial plant are utilised afterwards as organic fertiliser for the soil and crops. For instance, wet cake, yeast and ashes are composted and turned into organic fertiliser.
As for water, the plant is designed to treat and reuse 100% of the waste water. Some is reused for the industrial process, but most is reused for agriculture to irrigate sugarcane in the summer months.

What is the environmental impact of ethanol from sugarcane production?
It differs from corn alcohol, which is the most produced form of alcohol in the world, because it is self-sufficient. Corn ethanol production typically requires gas, or in some cases, coal. Sugarcane ethanol not only does not require external energy for its transformation into alcohol, but it also generates surplus energy.
Typically, the production of ethanol from sugarcane, in an efficient process, consumes 18-22% of the energy it generates. The rest of the surplus energy can be used for another industrial process or delivered to the interconnected system.
We have a power-generation unit of 43.5 MWh. However, our industrial plant only consumes 10-12 MWh, regardless of the milling rate at which we operate. The rest of the energy is sold to the interconnected system. In 2023, we exported more than 80,000 MWh to the system, and in 2025, we expect to export more than 100,000 MWh during the crushing season.
Another important aspect is that we have an electrostatic precipitator system which filters the combustion gases, so the particulate matter from combustion emissions is minimal. Our ethanol specifically has a very low carbon footprint since the raw material – sugarcane – comes from an average of 17 kilometres away.
This means that the fuel consumed to bring the cane to the plant by truck is much lower than it is at other mills, where the cane comes from up to 100-150 kilometres away. These are important aspects that make our emissions minimal.

What economic and energy benefits would a boost to the local biofuel industry have for Colombia?
We see huge potential for biofuels in the country, particularly in ethanol, for replacing gasoline imports. In 2023, imports were equivalent to almost 720 million gallons [2.73 billion litres]. This number has risen in the last two years.
Ironically, if 37% of the suitable and available area in Meta department was used for sugarcane crops – that is, 415,000 hectares [4,150 square kilometres] – it would be enough to replace 100% of imports and make Colombia’s automotive sector self-sufficient with E30 gasoline. As a country we have to seek a way to make use of our land and substitute these imports with locally produced biofuels.
They would also help us decarbonise. However, the benefits go even further, as they help the country in terms of retaining foreign currency, generating taxes, generating jobs and ultimately helping achieve energy sovereignty. Another advantage of sugarcane is that the energy it generates creates a surplus for the national grid.
It could generate additional power equivalent to 5% of the nation’s energy consumption during summer months. This power could be an important back-up to hydroelectric power generation during periods where reservoirs are at their lowest levels and electricity prices are highest.

Who are your main clients, and what incentives are there for local ethanol production?
Our customers are all fuel distributors. Our ethanol is then blended with gasoline. The issue today is that the blend in Colombia is 10% ethanol. But more than 50% of the blend that is being used today comes from corn ethanol, imported from the USA.
Corn ethanol has up to three times the carbon footprint of sugarcane ethanol. In fact, we could have the same emissions reduction as that of corn ethanol with only a 3-4% blend if all of it came from sugarcane. The industry should prioritise local sugarcane ethanol due to the sustainability and economic benefits compared to imported corn-based ethanol.
Since the birth of ethanol in Colombia, there have been mostly favourable conditions for domestically produced ethanol and legal certainty, which is fundamental. However, ethanol imports from the USA increased in the last years, which hampered our sector. Now we need legal adjustments to make the local ethanol production scenario more favourable and prioritise it with the goal of reducing carbon emissions.

What M&A opportunities is Bioenergy considering in light of market trends?
We are a company with tremendous potential. We have land available for crops, a state-of-the-art production facility with a capacity to produce up to 600,000 litres, we are located in a free tax zone, and we have a market that, year after year, is demanding more sustainable products.
The airlines made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions, starting from 2030, and biofuels are a key solution. We are the perfect partner for investments into a brand-new SAF [sustainable aviation fuel] plant, for example, but we are also looking at biomethanol production, green urea and other very interesting bioproducts.
We are very interested in investors coming to Colombia, whether to create a JV to jointly invest in a SAF plant project or for a new project. We are a company with great potential and aspirations. We see a great future in front of us.

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