Junior Sammy has been chosen as the contractor to build an ethanol plant for local company EthylChem and Denham Capital Management.

The plant is to be constructed at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery of the State-owned oil company, Petrotrin. The plant will produce 100,000,000 gallons-a-year of fuel grade ethanol.

Denham is a majority shareholder in EthylChem and will provide the funding for the construction of the facility.

The plant is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2009 and the ethanol should meet all specifications for use in US gasoline.

The project is expected to generate about 100 construction jobs and employ 16-18 full time workers once completed. Petrotrin will provide certain operating and logistical infrastructure for the project.

“In addition to the construction funding, Denham will provide additional capital and commercial support for the engineering and permitting in preparation for expanding the capacity of the facility by up to 200,000,000 gallons per year,” it said in a press release.

“EthylChem expects to be fully operational prior to the 2009 driving season in the United States.”