Questions about sustainability nix Great Britain power plant fired by palm oil

UK's RWE npower has shelved plans to set up a palm oil-fired power plant due to supply concerns, according to a report filed this morning by Benjamin Low, based in the Kuala Lumpur bureau.

This is an early sign that palm oil's ability to break into European energy market is not as easy as expected, Low reported, based on what traders are saying. RWE dropped plans due to lack of sufficient volumes of "environmentally sustainable" palm oil at reasonable prices to make the project viable.

"People have been talking about big volumes of palm oil going to Europe for energy, but this again highlights that palm oil's low price alone is no guarantee of demand. Other issues such as sustainability are also important to consumers in Europe," said a trader in Malaysia who was quoted in the report.

Palm oil articles appear on our content site, agfax2.com.