Cellulosic ethanol plant planned for Spiritwood, N.D.
April 13, 2016
BY Ann Bailey
The CEO and a founding partner of New Energy Investors met with North Dakota state officials April 12 to discuss a $150 million cellulosic ethanol plant the Pennsylvania company is proposing to build in Spiritwood, N.D.
The plant, located in the Spiritwood Industrial Park, would process corn stover and wheat straw into ethanol and lignin. Both biomass materials may be purchased under contract with farmers, said Thomas Corle, New Energy Investors founding partner.
On April 11, Corle and New Energy Investors CEO Robert Johnsen had met with members of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. to discuss the proposed ethanol plant, which would use about 195,000 tons of corn stover and straw annually to produce 13.5 million gallons of ethanol and 90,000 tons of lignin per year. The JSDC voted to approve a $75,000 match to a $225,000 North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization grant for which New Energy Invvestors applied.
Advertisement
Advertisement
If the company is awarded the APUC grant it will use the money to study feasibility and early project definition, Corle said.
The Spiritwood cellulosic plant would use proprietary technology developed by Inbicon, a subsidiary of Danish energy company DONG Energy A/S. Like many developers, Inbicon has worked on the technology for many years.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Inbicon’s Kalundborg, Denmark, 4-metric-ton-per-hour demonstration facility passed 17,000 hours of operation in 2014, according to the New Energy website, using wheat straw. The Inbicon biomass conversion technology combines hyrdrothermal pretreatment with enzymatic hydrolysis, converting biomass to sugars and clean lignin.
Groundbreaking on the North Dakota plant is expected to begin June in 2017 with construction completed in spring 2019, Corle said. The plant gradually will ramp up production over an eight-month period.
New Energy Investment and LeifMark eventually likely will become one, Corle said. He cofounded LeifMark to develop Inbicon technology in North America. Three plants with larger capacities also are in development, he said. Cities in Minnesota and other states and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have been checked out as possible locations for the three additional
Related Stories
NREL announced the findings of the Assessment of BQ-9000 Biodiesel Properties for 2024, the eighth in a series of annual reports documenting the quality of biodiesel from U.S. and Canadian producers participating in the BQ-9000 program.
Kintetsu World Express Inc. has entered into a new agreement with Shell Aviation regarding the use of SAF. Under this agreement, KWE will adopt Shell Aviation's digital platform "Avelia" to swiftly address shippers' low-carbon transportation needs.
Aemetis Inc. released Q2 results, reporting increase revenue when compared to Q1. During an earnings call, company officials detailed progress with the company’s RNG, ethanol, biodiesel, SAF and carbon CCS projects.
Calumet Inc. on Aug. 8 confirmed its Montana Renewables biorefinery is currently running at full capacity. An initial phase of the company’s MaxSAF initiative remains on track to boost SAF capacity to up to 150 MMgy by mid-2026.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. on Aug. 5 released second quarter financial results, reporting improved EBITDA for its renewable diesel segment. The company primarily attributed the improvement to increased utilization and higher margins.
Upcoming Events
