ARF has already commissioned its biodiesel plant in Adelaide, and said the commissioning of its Western Australian plant in Picton was “imminent”, the company said.

Both plants have been designed with an initial production capacity of 45 megalitres per annum (around 40,000 tonnes per annum).

The company had previously said it planned to develop another three plants by the end of 2007, but said today it would fast-track the rollout of new plants in an effort to reach its target of five operating plants approximately a year ahead of schedule.

ARF is currently evaluating seven potential sites across Australia and said it planned to announce the start of development at the three most suitable sites early in the second half of 2006.

ARF said that once all five plants were operational, its combined production capacity would reach 220MLpa, almost 70% of the Howard Government’s biofuels production target of 350MLpa by 2010.

While the Australian biofuels market is attracting greater interest in recent times, with new players joining the field, ARF hopes to consolidate its market advantage as one of the first commercial biofuels producers in Australia.

ARF said the cost of each of the three new plants would range from $A15-25 million according to site-specific conditions, noting that some of the plants may be developed as joint ventures with partners from complementary industries.

The company also reported that it had strengthened its technology partnership with German biofuels developer Energea, securing the patent rights for its Continuous Trans Esterification Reactor (CTER) process in the Australian and New Zealand regions.

Energea claims the CTER technology significantly lowers the cost of plant investment while increasing the yield. The CTER system is also a multi-feedstock system that protects producers from sudden price increases or shortages of specific feedstocks.

To assist in the accelerated domestic growth, ARF has established a $A9.8 million working capital facility with HSBC.

ARF has also secured the rights to Energea’s biodiesel technology for the North American Free Trade Agreement Zone, which includes the United States, Mexico and Canada.

ARF said it will soon establish a North American subsidiary with the intent of becoming both a producer and supplier of Energea’s biodiesel technology in the region.

“The US offers tremendous opportunity and we will be in a position to hit the ground running,” ARF managing director Darryl Butcher said.

Butcher said the company would attempt to replicate its Australian business model in the US, based on the proven capability of the Energea technology at various locations throughout the world.

ARF said the North American subsidiary would conduct feasibility studies for two large-scale biodiesel production facilities (275MLpa) once it has established a suitable resources operating base in the US.

In Europe, ARF will use the funds generated by its recent $27 million share placement to acquire a 25% interest in German company Carbon Cycle Management, which has already completed a feasibility study for a 105MLpa biodiesel plant in Austria, currently scheduled to commence production in 2007.

Butcher said Austria was a world leader in the adoption of biofuels, and ARF’s involvement in the CCM project would provide a clear insight into the European biofuels industry.

“It will also provide direct access to a region with clear expansion potential and a functioning carbon trading market,” Butcher said.