TEHRAN – Iran will inaugurate its first biorefinery this week in the western province of Kermanshah, with President Masoud Pezeshkian expected to attend the opening ceremony, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade.

Farshad Moqimi, head of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), said on Sunday that the project received an investment of 40 trillion rials (approximately $80 million). The facility will produce 200,000 liters of bioethanol per day and 66,000 tons of livestock feed annually.

He explained that the plant uses corn starch to produce bioethanol, while other starch by-products are processed into animal feed and supplied to livestock farms.

The project was financed in two phases, and a second site is now in the procurement phase for equipment and machinery, Moqimi said. The biorefinery’s two main outputs—bioethanol and animal feed—have already received regulatory approval, and a delivery agreement has been signed with one domestic oil refinery. Negotiations with other refineries are ongoing.

Moqimi noted that similar biorefinery projects are planned for seven other provinces, with IDRO open to partnerships with private investors. He emphasized that the Kermanshah project marks the first fully state-funded biorefinery initiative in Iran, relying on innovative financing methods and attracting over 90,000 small-scale shareholders.

Describing bioethanol as a strategic national need, especially under sanctions, he said that many foreign companies refused to cooperate with Iran on technology transfer. However, the country managed to localize the technology with help from domestic manufacturers and knowledge-based firms. A total of 48 industrial units were involved in the refinement of this biorefinery model.

Moqimi added that 90 countries currently use ethanol in gasoline blends. Iran’s second bioethanol project is underway in Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad Province and has reached 60 percent physical completion.

He said the initiative is aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption and fills a gap that the private sector may not be willing or able to address due to financial risk.

Also in Kermanshah, IDRO is overseeing the launch of a separate project to produce bio-implants. Moqimi said the initiative, which is 60 percent funded by the private sector, will prevent the outflow of $12 million to $15 million in foreign currency each year.

With an investment of $7.0 million, the bio-implant project has received regulatory approval from Iran’s Food and Drug Administration and is expected to create 1,000 local jobs.

EF/MA