It took Renewable Energy Group Inc. nearly 18 years to sell its first billion gallons of biofuel between 1995 and April 2014. Through accelerated growth over the past 10 years, which includes expansion into the European market, REG achieved the second billion gallon milestone in just 33 months this past January.

“I am proud of our team and this milestone could not have been accomplished without our customers, vendors, investors and supporters,” said Daniel J. Oh, president and CEO of REG. “This growth, geographic expansion, regulatory diversification and commitment to continuous improvement and innovation are a testament to our team’s dedication and investment in REG for our shareholders.”

An important part of REG’s sales growth and significant cash flow generation is the successful operation at full production capacity at REG Geismar, the company’s 75 MMgy renewable hydrocarbon diesel biorefinery in Geismar, Louisiana. Following two incidents in 2015, REG made repairs and process improvements at the biorefinery including added feedstock and finished fuel storage and significant proprietary pretreatment capabilities. With those improvements online, the Geismar plant has run continuously at or above 100 percent nameplate capacity since early October 2016.

“Our technical and operations teams have done a tremendous job putting to work a number of upgrades and improvements at Geismar,” said Brad Albin, vice president of manufacturing for REG. “With added feedstock and finished product storage already online, we look forward to continued success at this outstanding facility.”

REG also announced it has completed the acquisition of Petrotec, the leading used cooking oil to biodiesel producer in Continental Europe. The acquisition brings to REG an excellent team, two waste-based biodiesel plants (Emden and Oeding, Germany) and Vital Fettrecycling, a used cooking oil collection business. These assets are already operating in an integrated manner within REG’s network and team. This expansion into Europe increases REG’s worldwide nameplate capacity to more than 500 million gallons annually and establishes a position for international trade and further growth opportunities.

“Our integrated team working across North America and Europe has been working very well together as we have gone through this process, solidifying a growing international business,” Oh said. “We are excited to bring our newest team members and additional biorefining capabilities into our network of plants.”

REG also saw strong production across its U.S. fleet of biorefineries in 2016. REG Grays Harbor produced 72.3 million gallons of biodiesel for the year, which is 48 percent higher than the previous record there. REG Madison, the 20 MMgy plant acquired in March 2016, made immediate contributions to production and sales.

Videos on these topics can be viewed at https://youtu.be/tnTQSPqRp30 and https://youtu.be/weWsj0NW4mA.