28/10/06 (Business Times)  - CONGLOMERATE Sime Darby Bhd plans to build its first palm oil-based biodiesel plant in Johor next year, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes.

While the quantum of investment for the planned plant is not available, it generally costs about RM40 million to build a 60,000-tonne biodiesel plant.

Sources said the group is still mulling over where to site the plant - either in Pasir Gudang or Kempas.

"The company has called for biodiesel plant builders to submit their proposals for the tender which closes on November 8 2006," a source told Business Times.

Sime Darby group chief executive Datuk Ahmad Zubir Murshid could not be reached for comment yesterday.

With the plan, Sime Darby will join 53 other companies that have been granted approval by the Government this year to turn crude palm oil into biodiesel, known as B100 (100 per cent palm oil-based biodiesel).

The environment-friendly oil is sold to oil firms or retailers for blending with crude oil-derived diesel and used in conventional engines.

Companies already exporting biodiesel include Golden Hope Plantations Bhd, Carotino Sdn Bhd, Carotech Bhd and the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), while those still on the drawing board include Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd.