Redland Industries breaks ground in the Sooner State

Redland Industries Inc. broke ground on its Guymon, Okla.-based biodiesel refinery Sept. 16, and construction at the greenfield site is in full swing. Redland Industries said it will be the first biodiesel plant built in the state to be owned by an Oklahoma-based business.

"The initial nameplate capacity will be 30 MMgy," said Kent Powell, CEO and co-founder of Redland Industries. The company already has expansion plans drawn up, but Powell couldn't give any further details. "Redland Industries will expand accordingly with market demand increases," Powell told Biodiesel Magazine. Powell estimates the initial cost for the plant at $10 million, but after its future expansion, he estimates that to increase to $45 million.

The new biodiesel refinery will be multi-feedstock capable, but Powell said the primary feedstock will be first-use tallow. The process design is a proprietary configuration designed and engineered by Redland Industries. "Some information we used for our process design was carried over from the agricultural processing industry," Powell said. Redland Industries' general contractor is Clinton, Okla.-based J. Rose LLC.
The company has big plans for its biodiesel. Rather than selling "dot-to-dot," as Powell said, to local jobbers, Redland Industries is looking to go nationwide with its product. "Our company's goal is to market our product to the mainstream," Powell said. "We are setting up pre-selling arrangements with large, nationwide distributors." A biodiesel marketer has not yet been officially named.

Once Redland Industries starts producing biodiesel, it will transport the fuel from the plant in Guymon to its bulk storage facility in Clinton, where the company has its corporate headquarters and where various interstate modes of transportation intersect. This strategy will facilitate its plan to sell nationwide.

Much of the plant's glycerin will be consumed internally in the boiler system. Powell said the properties of glycerin, in its raw form, are similar to that of heating oil.

Redland Industries anticipates production to begin in May 2006.