Central Illinois Energy starts construction

July 1, 2006

Central Illinois Energy (CIE) recently completed its financing package and is ready to start full-scale construction on its $90 million, 37 MMgy ethanol plant, according to General Manager Mike Smith. At press time, initial site work was underway with Lurgi expected on-site by late May.

Lurgi will be the facility's general contractor and process technology provider. Smith said the idea to build the plant was sparked five years ago when area farmers wanted to vertically integrate to become ethanol producers instead of corn producers. "That is basically where it started, and it developed from there," Smith told EPM.

The plant itself will use a unique energy feedstock. CIE will provide its own steam generation and electricity by using the abundant waste coal available in the area. Surface mining in the mid-1900s left significant supplies of coal fines, or slurry, in settling ponds. The ponds were used to hold coal "washed" of impurities before shipping. The water in the ponds since dissipated leaving a mixture of coal and dirt resembling gray sand. The coal has approximately 8,000 Btus per pound, making it comparable to coal currently mined in the western United States, according to Smith.

The coal fines are expected to help reduce energy costs in the long run. Smith said natural gas prices would have to remain in the $4.50 to $5 range to break even with the coal fines.

The plant will initially start up with a natural-gas-fired boiler, which should be completed within 13 months of construction commencement. Testing and start-up of the coal boiler will take an additional three months. Smith said the coal boiler will remain below the 100-ton-per-year emissions threshold, making CIE a minor emitter.

CIE purchased its plant site, six miles south of Canton, Ill., from the mining company that owns the coal fines pits. Coal will be mined with an earth scraper and transported two to three miles to the facility, which has rail and natural gas access.
Smith said CIE received a state grant package totaling more than $6 million.

The five-county area surrounding the plant grows in excess of 130 million bushels of corn annually. CIE will use approximately 13 million bushels per year as feedstock. "We are looking strictly at a local market," Smith said.

Cargill will be the facility's distillers grains and ethanol marketers. CIE is within close proximity of the Illinois River, which may allow the plant to ship distillers grains and ethanol via barge. Smith said he is also considering capturing carbon dioxide from the plant.

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