adminGreen Fuel started selling ethanol distilled at its Chisumbanje estate in a Build Operate Transfer initiative with the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority last year.
However, the cheaper fuel, which retails at $1,36 a litre compared to $1,44 for unblended petrol, is not available at service stations in Bulawayo, with a few in Harare selling the commodity.
In an interview, Green Fuel spokesperson Ms Lillian Muungani said her organisation had large volumes of ethanol at its depot in Harare.
She said the absence of blended petrol on the market was due to fuel wholesalers that did not to have storage facilities for ethanol at their depots.
“As Green Fuel, we produce ethanol which fuel wholesalers have to buy and blend with petrol to produce blended petrol.
“Despite ourselves having huge volumes of ethanol at our depot in Harare, fuel wholesalers that we deal with such as Sakunda Energy and Redaan are yet to put up infrastructure for storage facilities,” she said.
She said in the next few weeks, it was envisaged that blended petrol would be available on the market as wholesalers would have finished setting up ethanol storage facilities at their depots.
“The wholesalers that we are dealing with are expecting to finish setting up ethanol storage facilities at their depots in the next few weeks so that they can start buying the commodity.
“Service station owners or garages will then buy blended petrol from the wholesalers.”
Economic commentators have said the availability of blended petrol on the market would help in containing inflation as fuel price would be relatively lower compared to the present price.
A survey by Business Chronicle recently showed that service stations in Bulawayo sold diesel and unleaded petrol.
City service stations are selling a litre of unleaded petrol at between $1,38 and $1,45. The Chisumbanje ethanol project is expected to provide 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s fuel needs.
The country needs about two million litres of fuel per day and has more than 5 000 hectares of land put under sugar cane to sustain production levels and more cane is expected to come from 400 outgrowers in surrounding communities in Triangle.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo