AB Bioenergy France (ABF), with a participation of 51% held by Abengoa Bioenergía S.A., a subsidiary of Abengoa and leader in the business of Bioenergy, has been granted an authorization by the French Government to produce 40,000 tons of bioethanol from corn, which will be subject to hydrocarbon tax exemption from 2007 to the 31.12.2012. This is a great achievement for Abengoa Bioenergía, as leader of one of the projects selected by the French Government.

The French Company led by Abengoa Bioenergía submitted its proposal to the French authorities last March, in a public competition to which numerous projects were presented, and was finally deliberated last May. The proposal submitted to the competition was a 180,000 Tm/y corn based bioethanol plant.

The French government has awarded, in this first stage, authorizations for a total of 200,000 tons of bioethanol, distributed between three projects, one of these being ABF, and has announced the launching for this of a second phase in which the rest of the capacity will be awarded, up to a total of 450,000 tons. The additional 250,000 tons will be introduced in the French market as from January 2008 onwards, to allow for a progressive establishment of the installed capacity necessary to fulfil the objectives set out by the French Government.

The definitive launching of the project will take place once all the conditions have been analyzed, finance has been obtained and, especially, after the second phase of awarding, scheduled for the second half of 2005.

In this first stage, and as a result of the distribution that has been made between the three selected projects, ABF has been awarded a partial amount of the total that was asked for in the initial proposal.

ABF will continue working in this project and will be presented in the public competition which the French Administration has announced for the second phase of authorizations during 2005, that we understand will complement the capacity already assigned in this first stage, and consolidate the objectives of fulfilment in three industrial projects which contribute to the reliability and commitment of production to guarantee that the amount of assigned biofuel is introduced in the market.