Ormat Industries (TASE: ORMT) is entering the biodiesel field with the announcement that it will invest $13.5 million in R&D and $35-50 million in the construction of a production facility. This will bring the company's total investment in this field to nearly $60 million.
Biodiesel can be used as a substitute for conventional diesel fuel. Ormat aims to play an integrative role in this field, and will also focus on the development of plants for the production of alkyl esters used in the processing of biodiesel, as well as the development of production processes and the construction and operation of production facilities.
Ormat said its investment in R&D would probably be spread over the next five years, while the investment in the construction of the first commercial biodiesel production facility would be spread over the next two to three years. The company's entry into the field is based on the R&D it conducted in cooperation with an academic institute, which will grant the company an exclusive user license.
Ormat aims to develop a higher quality of biodiesel than that currently available on the market, and which will not have to be mixed with conventional fuels before it can be used in ordinary combustion engines.