Scheduled to complete construction by the end of 2016, the project investment has been sourced locally and through overseas funding, according to reports.
BioEnergy News cited Fiji Fisheries and Forests Minister Inia Seruiratu as saying that: ‘This facility would assist in reducing Fiji’s reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The agreement includes the exportation of biomass chips to the global market.
"As a small island vulnerable nation, the high fossil prices have a significant impact on our macroeconomic fundamentals over the past three years. Over the past three years we have imported on average $1.2 billion worth of petroleum products."
Tropik Wood CEO and chairman Faiz Khan was quoted by BioEnergy News as saying: ‘Gimco’s current and immediate demand is our bark waste that is a by-product of woodchip processing and other forms of biomass fuel such as branches that are left behind immediately after harvesting.
"Tropik will sell this waste to the JV that in turn will process it for exports thus maximising on pine wood usage. The JV will sell to the highest bidder in the open market."
