The plant will sell biodiesel into the rapidly growing EU market as of 2007, and will be supplied with feedstock from vegetable oil producers in Brazil.
BET is majority owned by Portuguese entrepreneur Horacio Luis Carvalho, whose other industrial interests include waste management, renewable energy systems and emissions trading in Brazil, Portugal and the UK.
"This is the bank's first equity investment in biofuels, a sector which is growing rapidly given the need to find alternative sources of energy to fossil fuels and at the same time cut emissions of greenhouse gases,” said Allan Walker, head of power and infrastructure at Standard Bank.
Standard Bank, a member of the South African-based Standard Bank Group, is actively financing renewable energy projects worldwide, and investing in emerging markets such as fuel cell, biomass, biofuel and geothermal projects.
