North America

1. Bakersfield, California—Nov. 13, 2017 Crimson Renewable Energy announced a contract with BDI-BioEnergy International to build a second plant alongside its existing 24 MMgy plant using BDI’s novel RepCat process, which employs a recyclable catalyst. The 12 MMgy addition will be able to process low-quality feedstock and is expected to be operational mid-2019.

2. Wichita, Kansas—Nov. 24, 2017 Air Liquide Engineering & Construction announced it is engineering and supplying Cargill’s 60 MMgy facility in Wichita, Kansas. Cargill first announced building the $90 million plant Sept. 21. It is under construction next to its oilseed processing plant. Construction began December 2017 and startup is expected January 2019.

3. St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec—Nov. 27, 2017 Canadian biodiesel producer Innoltek Inc. announced it acquired the 19 MMly Evoleum biodiesel plant formerly known as QFI. At the time, Innoltek operated a 5 MMly biodiesel facility in Thetford Mines, Quebec. On Sept. 11, 2018, Innoltek announced a reorganization in which it would cease operations in Thetford Mines and concentrate production and move its headquarters to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

4. Watsonville, California—Feb. 21, 2018 The 15 MMgy Agron Bioenergy reopened its doors after Western Iowa Energy acquired the idled plant Nov. 14, 2017. WIE owns and operates a 45 MMgy facility in Wall Lake, Iowa, and the Agron acquisition marks WIE’s first expansion of operations beyond Iowa. Biodiesel demand created by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard drove WIE’s decision to acquire Agron Bioenergy.

5. Los Angeles, California—March 20, 2018 World Energy announced it had closed on the purchase from Delek US Holdings of its interests in biojet and renewable diesel producer AltAir Paramount, its Paramount Petroleum refinery assets, both co-located in Paramount, California, as well an adjacent tank farm and most of Delek’s California pipeline assets. Seven months later, World Energy announced a $350 million upgrade to complete conversion of the former oil refinery to produce more than 300 MMgy of biojet fuel, renewable diesel, green gasoline and propane.

6. Hamilton, Ontario—March 26, 2018 World Energy announced a partnership with an investment group led by Halifax, Nova Scotia-based CFFI Ventures. The $345 million deal involved acquisition of Biox Corp., including its flagship 67 MMly (18 MMgy) biodiesel plant in Hamilton, Ontario.

7. Sombra, Ontario—March 26, 2018 World Energy’s acquisition of Biox included its idled 45 MMly (12 MMgy) biodiesel plant. Biox had acquired the Sombra biodiesel plant from Methes Energies in June 2016. 

8. Houston, Texas—March 26, 2018 World Energy’s acquisition of Biox left it the sole owner of the 90 MMgy Texas plant that a World Energy/Biox joint venture (JV) acquired in June 2016. The plant is now simply called World Energy Houston.

9. Sarnia, Ontario—April 3, 2018 Bioindustrial Innovation Canada approved an investment in biodiesel technology developer Benefuel Inc. to build a new 20 MMgy biodiesel plant in Canada. Benefuel’s Ensel technology employs a solid acid catalyst that combines esterification and transesterification. The technology is deployed at the 50 MMgy Duonix plant in Beatrice, Nebraska, a JV between Benefuel and Flint Hills Resources. Benefuel expects to break ground on its 20 MMgy plant in Sarnia in 2019.

10. Washington, Iowa—April 24, 2018 Hero BX announced a strategic partnership with Iowa Renewable Energy to manufacture and market biodiesel from IRE’s 30 MMgy facility. Hero BX says it will apply its established business model, which values integrity, quality and safety, to help capitalize on the new venture.

11. Ralston, Iowa—May 10, 2018 Renewable Energy Group announced completion of a $32 million expansion and upgrade at its Ralston biodiesel plant. Production capacity has more than doubled from 12 to 30 MMgy. Significant upgrades were made to its logistics and storage capabilities. The project broke ground in November 2016.

12. Bridgeport, Connecticut—June 27, 2018 Equity Partners HG announced that the 13 MMgy Bridgeport Biodiesel plant retained it to find an investor or buyer for the bankrupt company. On April 12, Biodiesel Magazine reported Bridgeport Biodiesel was filing bankruptcy after being plagued with mechanical and flow issues.

13. Dickinson, North Dakota—Aug. 6, 2018 Andeavor (formerly Tesoro, now Marathon) announced its 20,000 barrel per day (bpd) oil refinery, which had already begun coprocessing renewable diesel, was moving toward complete conversion to make 12,000 bpd of renewable diesel. The project is expected to be completed in late 2020.

14. South Roxana, Illinois—Aug. 7, 2018 Biodiesel Magazine broke news that Hero BX acquired the former Midwest Biodiesel Products 12 MMgy biodiesel plant at auction. Hero BX said after it completes its redesign and rebuild, the plant will produce 15 MMgy from multiple feedstocks. The project is slated for completion in 2019.

15. Estill, South Carolina—Aug. 13, 2018 Biodiesel Magazine learned World Energy was in the process of acquiring an idled 40 MMgy biodiesel plant formerly known as Ecogy Biofuels. At press time, World Energy expected the deal to be closed in December.

16. Reno, Nevada—Aug. 27, 2018 Ryze Renewables announced it has begun construction on a 50 MMgy renewable diesel plant. It is partnering with Phillips 66, which will supply the facility with feedstock and move 100 percent of the product from the plant to customers in West Coast markets. The plant is expected online mid-2019.

17. Las Vegas, Nevada—Aug. 27, 2018 Ryze Renewables announced it has begun construction on a 100 MMgy renewable diesel plant. The company is partnering with Phillips 66, which will supply the facility with feedstock and move 100 percent of the product from the plant to customers in West Coast markets. The plant is expected to come online in early 2020.

18. Clinton, Iowa—Sept. 26, 2018 Hero BX announced its acquisition of the former Clinton County Biodiesel 10 MMgy facility from Tenaska Commodities. The plant’s proximity to Chicago markets made the deal attractive, officials said. Hero BX expected upgrades—including a new acid esterification process, reactors, cooling towers and boilers—to be complete by late 2018.

19. Warrenville, South Carolina—Sept. 26, 2018 Biodiesel Magazine broke news about Green Energy Biofuel’s acquisition of the former Green Valley Biofuel facility, an idled 40 MMgy biodiesel plant. GEB (formerly known as Midlands Biofuels) retrofitted the plant, now called GEB3, to process raw used cooking oil into high-quality feedstock for distribution to East Coast and Mid-Atlantic biodiesel producers.

20. Salem, Oregon—Oct. 22, 2018 California-based biodiesel producer Crimson Renewable Energy announced its acquisition of SeQuential, a vertically integrated company with a 17 MMgy biodiesel plant in Salem, Oregon, and used cooking oil collection accounts spanning thousands of restaurants. Crimson and SeQuential will continue to operate under their existing brands.

21. Ferndale, Washington—Nov. 1, 2018 REG announced a partnership with Phillips 66 to construct a large-scale renewable diesel plant adjacent to Phillips 66’s Ferndale oil refinery. The facility will employ REG’s BioSynfining technology. The announcement followed more than a year of collaboration between the two companies. A final investment decision is expected in 2019. If approved, production at the new facility is slated for 2021.

22. Norco, Louisiana—Nov. 6, 2018 One month after achieving its newly expanded run rate of 275 MMgy (up from 160 MMgy), Diamond Green Diesel, the JV renewable diesel plant owned by Darling Ingredients and Valero Energy, announced it would further expand production capacity to 675 MMgy. The $1.1 billion project will include construction of a new 50-60 MMgy green gasoline plant and is expected to be completed in late 2021.

International

1. Hartberg, Styria, Austria—Jan. 26, 2018 BDI-BioLife Science, a subsidiary of BDI Holding GmbH and sister company to BDI-BioEnergy International, broke ground on its new algae biomass production plant after years of R&D on its proprietary algae reactor system. BDI-BioLife Science will own and operate the 15-ton-per-year plant as a raw material producer of algae for various industries.

2. Mussalo, Kotka, Finland—Feb. 5, 2018 UPM announced it was investigating construction of a second advanced biorefinery scaled at 500,000 tons per year. Eight months later, the company announced its environmental impact assessment was completed and handed off to the authorities for review.

3. Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India—March 16, 2018 Aemetis announced that its 50 MMgy Universal Biofuels subsidiary in India completed construction of a biodiesel pretreatment unit to process low-cost feedstocks per a three-year supply agreement with BP Singapore. A month later, the company announced Universal Biofuels’ glycerin refinery is producing beyond its 18,000-ton-per-year capacity as a result of demand exceeding supply.

4. Callao and Paita, Peru—May 14, 2018 Valero Energy announced it had acquired Pure Biofuels del Peru S.A.C. from Pegasus Capital Advisors LP, its management and minority shareholders. Pure Biofuels del Peru is the third-largest fuels importer in Peru. The Callao terminal has mooring and unloading systems with Panamax vessel capability, storage capacity of approximately 1 million barrels for refined and renewable products, and an eight-bay truck rack for products distribution. The Paita terminal has product storage capacity of 180,000 barrels, with land available for future expansion.

5. Bolivia—June 8, 2018 Bio Clean Energy S.A. announced that its Bio Petro Biofuels subsidiary has won a contract to supply biodiesel to the Bolivian government-owned Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos in a public tender process. YPFB provides about 90 percent of the fuel consumed in Bolivia. The contract called for monthly volumes between 1.5 million and 3 million liters for one year, totaling between 18 million and 36 million liters (4.76 million to 9.5 million gallons) for the 12-month period.

6. Jiangsu Province, China—June 11, 2018 Inventure Renewables announced the successful implementation and nearly year-long operation of its Mixed Super Critical Fluid technology at a Wilmar International processing plant in China. The technology is being used to produce fatty acid methyl esters for oleochemicals and biodiesel from a wide range of vegetable oil feedstocks.

7. Kaslik, Lebanon—July 16, 2018 The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) and IPT Energy Center signed a memorandum of understanding to install a pilot-scale biodiesel production unit on campus to be fed by used cooking oil. The project will be assessed for its replicability at the national level in coordination with and support from the United Nations Development Programme. The parties intend to lobby for and support mainstream use of biodiesel in Lebanon.

8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands—July 19, 2018 U.K. biodiesel producer Greenergy announced an agreement with tank terminal operator Oiltanking to purchase an idle biodiesel manufacturing facility located at Oiltanking’s site in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam biodiesel plant was built in 2010 to process vegetable oils but was never commissioned. Greenergy planned to retrofit the facility to process waste oils and expand production capacity.

9. Amsterdam, The Netherlands—July 20, 2018 U.K. biodiesel producer Argent Energy, a subsidiary of John Swire & Sons, announced it was acquiring Simadan Group’s biodiesel production, tank storage and cleaning facilities in Amsterdam. The operating plant, Biodiesel Amsterdam, produces 100,000 tons per year (30 MMgy) of tallow-based biodiesel.

10. Amsterdam, The Netherlands—Sept. 3, 2018 Renewable diesel producer Neste Corp. completed its acquisition of animal fat trader IH Demeter B.V., first announced in May. With a Europe-wide logistical setup, the company, renamed Neste Demeter B.V., is positioned to deliver raw material to Neste’s renewable diesel production facilities.

11. Singapore—Sept. 5, 2018 U.K. biodiesel producer Greenergy announced the acquisition of Singapore-based used cooking oil exporter Rexon Energy. The acquisition will help provide raw materials for its three biodiesel manufacturing operations in Immingham and Teeside on the east coast of England, along with its new Amsterdam-based facility, which is scheduled to begin operating in 2019.

12. La Mède, France—Oct. 26, 2018 Total S.A. announced it will delay startup of its renewable diesel plant at a converted oil refinery to Q1 2019. Total originally expected production to start in summer 2018. In 2015, the French oil giant began plans to convert its crude refinery in La Mède to produce 500,000 tons per year of renewable diesel via Axens’ Vegan process technology from as much as 650,000 tons of feedstock.

13. Singapore—Dec. 12, 2018 Neste Corp. announced it will invest $1.6 billion to more than double renewable diesel production capacity in Singapore. Once completed in 2022, combined production capacity at the three Neste renewable diesel plants in the Netherlands, Finland and Singapore will approach 4.5 million tons per year.

Author: Ron Kotrba
Editor, Biodiesel Magazine
218-745-8347
rkotrba@bbiinternational.com