A 60-million gallon biodiesel plant near Akron could potentially be operating by the winter of 2009-2010, but first they have to get all their financial ducks in a row.
The chairman of the plant's board of directors, John Lucken of Akron, said Tuesday that they're getting their financials in order for the $100 million project, looking towards starting a drive to gather $35 million from investors.
"We'll begin our equity drive after the first of the year," he said, noting that they are waiting on the final go-ahead from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The plant developers, Natural Innovative Renewable Energy or NIRE, will be seeking investors in Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota and Colorado, he said.
A North Dakota-based firm is arranging the debt to finance the plant.
The plant, first announced in March, was originally aiming for construction starting in 2007.
Lucken said the construction start-date depends on when funds are raised, but if they get the equity raised by June, which would be six months, they would like to start construction by July or August.
"That's optimistic," he said. "But we're looking to start production in the winter of 2009-10."
Construction will take 18-21 months and include at least half a dozen buildings, he said. Included in that are the processing plant, the administration building, the lab, the tanks and the wastewater treatment facility.
NIRE is seeking $1 million in tax rebates from Plymouth County. On Tuesday, the approached the county board to see if the rebate timetable could be switched from seven years to five, but keeping the same $1 million amount. The board was supportive but planned to wait to finalize their decision until their Dec. 4 meeting. They also may assist the developers in securing some lower-interest bonds through the state for wastewater treatment and sign off on an application for High Quality Job Creation tax credits through the Iowa Department of Economic Development. To qualify, the plant needs to have the majority of the jobs it creates be at 130 percent of the county average wage, with is about $16 currently.
In return for assistance, the county is asking the biodiesel planners to chip in for road costs to the tune of $35,000, which is the same amount the board has asked for from other renewable energy plants in the county.
Lucken said he didn't anticipate there needing to be much in terms of road improvements other than paving a portion of 180th Street west of Highway 12 to connect the plant to the highway.
"We don't have the truck traffic. Both the feedstock and the product will be primarily railed out," he said. "But we may find a market for the glycerin by truck."
Glycerin is one of the byproducts created in biodiesel production.
Natural Innovative Renewable Energy was formerly known as Northwest Iowa Renewable Energy, but planners changed the name this summer to better reflect the nature of their group.
"We're going to have multi-state registration with the SEC, and this name has a broader appeal -- it's not geographically focused on Iowa," Lucken said.
And the "innovative" reference has partly to do with the fact that it will be a multi-feedstock plant, he said.
"We'll have a higher ratio of animal fat in our feedstock, including poultry and pork along with oils like soybean and canola, so that's innovative," he said.
