![[Ethiopia] Omo Kuraz-II sugar plant commences trial production](Belaris.jpg)
[Ethiopia] Omo Kuraz-II sugar plant commences trial production
Omo Kuraz-II, one of the four sugar factories being built under Omo Kuraz sugar development projects, has begun trial production this month.
The factory, which has passed all phases of the testing conducted since last January, started crashing sugarcane on March 23 and sugar production four days later.
According to a statement, the Sugar Corporation, the factory began it trial production by crashing 6,500 tonnes of sugarcane. The sugar plant has the capacity to crash 12,000 tonnes of sugarcane per day.
Upon going fully operational, Omo Kuraz-II is expected to produce 2.5 million quintals of sugar and 28 million litres of Ethanol per annum.
The sugar plant would generate 60 MW of electricity from sugarcane by products, out of which 40MW would be supplied to the national grid. The factory will use the remaining 20MW for sugar production.
According to the press release, the factory is expected to enter into regular production in a few months’ time.
The construction of Omo Kuraz-II sugar plant was launched three years ago at a cost of 6.67 billion birr loan secured from the China Development Bank.
Construction of residential units and different infrastructures is underway at Omo Kuraz sugar development projects, in addition to the sugarcane planted on 13,000 hectares of land, the statement indicated.
