Prime Infra lauds UK energy giant BP’s $10M infusion in WasteFuel

Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., led by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr., welcomed the $10 million investment by British energy giant BP in US-based WasteFuel Global.

Prime Infra has been a shareholder of WasteFuel Global since February 2021.

The Razon Group’s infrastructure company also formed a 60-40 joint venture with WasteFuel Global in 2021. 

“We are proud to be part of WasteFuel Global and to collaborate with industry leaders that tackle waste challenges and drive the decarbonization of the transport sector. BP’s investment in alternative fuel technology is a significant step in decarbonizing the shipping industry and in shaping the future of a more sustainable maritime transportation,” Guillaume Lucci, president and CEO of Prime Infra and director of WasteFuel, said in a statement.

BP, through its venture capital arm BP Ventures, is investing $10 million in WasteFuel, which is planning to develop plants around the world that will convert municipal and agricultural waste into bio-methanol.

In the Philippines, WasteFuel Philippines is planning to put up a biorefinery in Luzon that would convert over one million tons of municipal waste into 30 million gallons of low-carbon synthetic crude oil annually.

The biorefinery plant is expected to be operational by 2025.

“Prime Infra’s current waste management business is focused on resource recovery, with plans to convert waste to fuel products through WasteFuel Philippines,” Lucci said.

“These form part of Prime Infra’s decarbonization goals and strategy to deploy innovative technologies to address the Philippines’ waste problem. The objective remains to maximize resource recovery and minimize the amount of waste to be disposed onsite,” he added.

For his part, Gareth Burns, vice president of BP ventures, said, “WasteFuel projects will look to help with the growing volumes of global waste, whilst advancing the development of lower carbon solutions for hard-to-abate sectors.”

“Achieving decarbonization in shipping will require a step-change, and biofuels have a key role to play in helping the industry to decarbonize. We look forward to working together on WasteFuel’s next stage of growth and market development,” Burns added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News