The EBRD will loan $48 million to Kernel to build five thermal power plants fueled by sunflower seed husks.

The EBRD will loan $48 million to Kernel to build five thermal power plants fueled by sunflower seed husks. Kernel is the world’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil. The loan covers a small portion of the company’s $330 million capital expenditures for its fiscal year, which ends next June. Kernel also is building a plant for processing sunflower seeds, two silos for storing grain, and a deep water terminal for shipping grain at Chornomorsk, the Black Sea port. In September, the European Investment Bank approved $250 million in financing to cover the lion’s share of Kernel’s capital expenditures this year.