At press time, Big River Resources LLC of West Burlington, Iowa, was poised to complete an expansion project after 10 months of construction, according to General Manager Jim Leiting. The plant was operating at about 60 percent capacity as final start-up testing was completed. "We should be in full operation by the first of August," Leiting said.

Capacity for the plant, which first began production in April 2004, was increased from 40 MMgy to 52 MMgy. The project, originally scheduled to take a year, was completed two months earlier than planned.

Also during the expansion project, grain storage capability was increased from 400,000 bushels to 1.2 million bushels. Rather than buying corn all throughout the year, the additional storage capacity will allow for on-site corn storage. "That will allow us to position feedstock in advance, so we can retain more corn to utilize for our grind on the property," Leiting said.

At some point in the future, Big River Resources wants to further increase the plant's capacity to 80 MMgy. Leiting didn't disclose a timeline for that project, saying it was under development.

Big River Resources has a management agreement with UBE Services LLC, a subsidiary of U.S. BioEnergy. United BioEnergy Fuels LLC and UBE Ingredients LLC, also subsidiaries of U.S. BioEnergy, market the facility's ethanol and distillers grains.
Big River Resources also has plans in the works for a second plant located about 90 miles away. Permitting is under way for Big River Resources Galva LLC, a 100 MMgy ethanol plant to be located in Galva, Ill. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2007, Leiting said.

Big River Resources LLC
Location: West Burlington, Iowa
Design/builder: Fagen Inc.
Process technology: ICM Inc.
Capacity: from 40 MMgy to 52 MMgy
Feedstock: corn
Ethanol marketer: United BioEnergy Fuels
Distillers grains marketer: UBE Ingredients
Carbon dioxide marketer: N/A
Start date: October 2005
Completion date: July 2006

-Staff Report