Abstract This work presents an analysis of the inherent potentialities and characteristics of the sugarcane industries that produce sugar, bioethanol, biogas and bioelectricity and that are being described as “Biorefineries”. These Biorefineries are capable of producing bio-energy under diverse forms, intended for their own internal consumption and for external sales and marketing. A complex model and simulation are carried out of the processes of a sugarcane industry, with the data characteristic as well as the production costs, prices of products and considerations on the energy demand by basic processes. A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) optimization problem formulation and an analysis of optimal solutions in short-term operation are described, taking into account the production cost functions of each commodity and the incomes obtained from selling electricity and other products. The objective is to maximize the hourly plant economic profit in the different scenarios considered in a real case study.