Madrid, February 15th 2007. Abengoa Bioenergy announces that the project I+DEA, Research and Development of Ethanol for Automotive Applications, leaded by the company, has been awarded by the Cenit Program, managed by the CDTI and that finances great industrial investigation projects.

The project will be developed by a wide consortium of private companies and public investigation organizations. It will last four years and will represent a continued effort in R&D for the consortium. Abengoa Bioenergy pushes the consortium that will generate an important impulse for agrarian, biofuels, automotive and biotechnology industries in Spain.

I+DEA project will cover the complete bioethanol cycle, production of raw material (energy crops) and enzymes (biotechnology), bioethanol production technologies and their use in engines, and it will carry the Spaniard industry as a leader in this field.

The project will contribute to the development of knowledge in an area in which improvements are necessary to increase the bioethanol production capacity in a sustainable and competitive way. This biofuel, clean, renewable and that diminishes emissions of CO2 and of local contaminants, is fundamental to accomplish with the objectives established by the European Commission and its 2003/30/CE Directive for fossil fuels substitution.

“We are very satisfied because this grant represents a bet of the Spanish authorities and R&D managers to push the bioethanol technology development as a main goal in the greater European producer country” says Javier Salgado, President and CEO of Abengoa Bioenergy.

“Advance in the biomass gasification and catalyst ethanol synthesis technology, one of the main objectives within the I+DEA Project, will establish our Company as the worldwide leadership in biofuels technology, in harmony with the milestones of our strategic plan”, adds Gerson Santos, Director of Abengoa Bioenergy R&D.

About Abengoa Bioenergy

Abengoa Bioenergy is the first European, fifth in the U.S.A, and the only worldwide bioethanol manufacturer,with more than 1000 ML/year of total installed capacity. In Spain Abengoa maintains three production facilities with a capacity over 500 ML/year and is constructing the first world biomass enzymatic hydrolysis demonstration plant with a capacity over 5vML/year.

Abengoa is a technology company applying innovative solutions for sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It quotes on the Stock Exchange with a capitalization of more than 2,729.47 million Euros (01/02/2007) and is present in more than seventy countries, where it operates with five Business Units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies and Industrial Engineering and Construction (www.abengoa.com).