Groundbreaking Ceremony of BioFuel Energy for its Wood River, Neb., Ethanol Production Facility

24/11/06 BioFuel Energy, LLC, a recently formed ethanol production company, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Wood River, Neb., ethanol production facility, a 100-million-gallon-per-year plant. The facility is being constructed adjacent to the local Cargill AgHorizons grain elevator and is expected to begin operations in early 2008.

The plant will source corn exclusively from Cargill’s elevator in Wood River, which has historically shipped corn to the export market. Production requirements for the plant are expected to call for about 41 million bushels of corn annually. In addition to producing ethanol, the plant is expected to produce more than 300,000 tons of distillers dried grain for animal feed annually.

The Wood River Plant is being constructed by The Industrial Company (TIC) and its TE Ibberson subsidiary, in association with Delta-T. TIC is a $1.4 billion construction company headquartered in Steamboat Springs, Colo., that is acting as general contractor on the project. Ibberson, which has more than a century of experience in designing grain handling systems, is overseeing that aspect of the work. Delta-T, a leading provider of ethanol process technology, is engineering much of the plant.

Beyond creating demand for up to 41 million bushels of corn annually, the plant is expected to create about 50 full-time jobs. BioFuel Energy intends to hire the majority of its plant employees locally. BioFuel Energy’s site manager, Ron Gregory, commented, “Our team has been impressed with the people and the pro business atmosphere in the City of Wood River and Hall County. We could not be happier with the welcome we have received, the pool of potential employees and the ample supply of local corn. The city worked hard to support our locating the plant in Wood River and expect the community will see benefits for future generations. We look forward to expanding our relationships in the community as we construct our plant and begin operations.”

Dan Simon, BioFuel Energy’s executive vice president & COO, said, “We are delighted that the plant is officially under construction and are proud to be associated with the city, its people and the state of Nebraska. We hope to be a major contributor to the long-term financial strength of the community."