GRE continues moving forward on biorefinery

Talk about it

Great River Energy presented its plans to develop the country’s first biorefinery near Spiritwood at the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. Board meeting Monday.

Greg Ridderbusch, GRE’s vice president of business development and strategy, and Sandra Broekema, GRE’s manager of business development, explained the steps the company’s taking. A Danish company, Inbicon A/S, has developed the technology to manufacture cellulosic ethanol, Broekema said. It has a demonstration plant making ethanol from wheat straw in Kalundborg, Denmark.

“They’re about 10 years ahead of us in energy technology and Inbicon has a 14-year development history so they’ve worked out the bugs,” she said. “Now, Inbicon is interested in marketing its technology to the world.”

The $300 million biorefinery, named Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, would be the first commercial biorefinery in the United States. It would generate 69 jobs — 45 in the biorefinery, 12 on the biomass collection side and 25 seasonal jobs to collect and bale straw. The facility would be co-located near GRE’s power plant at Spiritwood, using its waste steam for processing straw into ethanol.

“The waste steam cooks the straw,” Ridderbusch said.

The estimated amount of biomass — wheat or barley straw, switchgrass or corn stover — is 480,000 tons a year gathered from farm fields within a 70-mile radius. That’s figuring one dry ton per acre and a 50 percent removal rate. Broekema said GRE would also be buying Inbicon’s biomass-handling technology.

Along with making molasses as a waste product to feed animals, the biorefinery will produce 170,000 tons of lignin per year. Lignin can be burned as an alternative to coal at the power plant.

“Lignin produces no greenhouse gases. It’s a biofuel we can use to offset coal,” Ridderbusch said. “We’re trying to find ways to mitigate the carbon cost.”

But, Ridderbusch said, the success of a biorefinery is very dependent on area farmers and the ag community, not just for feedstock but for investment. With grants, GRE is looking at an equity investment of about $150 million from the founding partners and farmer producers as well as other investors.

JSDC Board member Alex Schweitzer said “getting the farmers on board is my concern.”

Broekema agreed it’s important to get the word out because a biorefinery will change farming practices. GRE is getting enough information now on biomass collection and supply from Inbicon, she said, to answer some of the questions farmers have. Bale specifications, for example, are 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet and weighing approximately 1,000 pounds.

Founding members of the project development team are GRE, Headwaters Inc., which operates Blue Flint Ethanol, Inbicon, JSDC and the North Dakota Department of Commerce.

For the next two years the schedule includes securing financing as well as project development and design. Tentative plans are to begin construction in 2013 with start up and commissioning of the new facility in 2014-2015.

“A collaborative approach is critical to the success of this. Our business concept is tied to the local community,” Ridderbusch said. “We need farmer participation, economic development involvement and adequate infrastructure. This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved.”

Sun reporter Toni Pirkl can be reached at (701) 952-8453 or by e-mail at tonip@jamestownsun.com

Tags: north dakota, great river energy, news, biorefinery, energ, gre, inbicon