Project Bulletin: Brazil; South Carolina; India; October 14, 2024

EDITOR’S NOTE: The project records appearing every week in the Site Selection Project Bulletin are pulled from the Conway Projects Database, a proprietary resource with tens of thousands of records of corporate end-user facility investments across all industry sectors and all world geographies. Want to look for our projects yourself? Look here.

Brazil’s Got BioFuel

Brazil President Lula da Silva passed the Fuel to Future law last week to increase use of sustainable, low
carbon fuel.

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Last week, Brazil-based Grupo Potencial announced it would scale its biodiesel plant with the addition of a new soybean crushing plant in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Lapa. The $108 million project will soon enable the facility to hold the world’s largest production capacity for soybean oil-based biofuel. Once construction wraps and operations begin in 2026, the facility’s production capacity will rise from 238 million gallons annually to 428 million gallons per year. Brazil’s new Fuel to Future law focuses on increasing biodiesel use and will position the company to meet anticipated demands moving forward. “The energy transition is an irreversible global movement,” said Grupo Potencial Managing Partner Arnoldo Hammerschmidt. “Our country is making significant progress towards ensuring legal security, predictability of investments in the sector and, consequently, stability in our energy mix.”

A Clean Arrival

Birla Carbon establishes its first operations in South Carolina, 42 miles south of Columbia in Orangeburg.

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Carbon solutions manufacturer Birla Carbon has marked a $1 billion arrival to South Carolina’s Orangeburg County. The new project will establish a 435,000-sq.-ft. synthetic graphite continuous production facility by 2026. “As a global leader in our industry, we are constantly looking for opportunities to collaborate with like-minded partners that make a real difference,” said Birla Carbon President and CEO John Loudermilk. “This plant is an investment in the future as the demand for electric vehicles and energy storage markets will only grow.” Birla Carbon’s first phase of construction will enable production of 25,000 tons of synthetic graphite per year for EV, energy storage and defense market uses. Once operational the site will add 124 new jobs, with the company offering education and internship opportunities on-site.

Tata’s Powerful Plan for Rajasthan

Tata Power aims to establish the state of Rajasthan as India’s leading renewable energy hub, reaching net-zero emissions by 2070.

Photo courtesy of Tata Power

As the ink dries on a new Memorandum of Understanding between Tata Power and the Government of Rajasthan, the promise of clean, affordable and reliable power is on its way to northwestern India. The integrated power company will invest $241 million to modernize the state’s grid infrastructure, construct a new 2,000 megawatt (MW) solar module manufacturing plant, install 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity across several cities and explore development of a nuclear power plant and EV charging points. “Our partnership with the Government of Rajasthan is a testament to our shared vision of building a low-carbon, resilient, and integrated energy ecosystem in the state. By using our experience across the entire power sector value chain, we aim to support Rajasthan’s energy goals and create economic opportunities for its people,” said Tata Power CEO Dr. Praveer Sinha. With several clean energy projects in motion, the company anticipates creating 28,000 direct jobs over the next 10 years.

Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore, edited by Adam Bruns