Nebraska State Director Scott Blehm presented the funds in a Tuesday ceremony in Lincoln, Neb. Northeast Nebraska Biodiesel was one of more than 150 projects throughout Nebraska receiving $38 million in USDA funding.
The biodiesel plant is being built near Scribner, Neb., which is located on U.S. Highway 275 approximately 65 miles northwest of Omaha. The facility will be on a 2.5-acre lot adjacent to a soy crush facility operated by Nebraska Soybean Processing. The biodiesel plant will source soy oil from the processing facility for its feedstock, according to Robert Byrnes, technical consultant from Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems.
Iowa-based TechnoChem International Inc. is designing and assembling the facility off-site. “We’re doing site preparations,” Byrnes said. “Equipment should be arriving in about a month.”
TechnoChem is also building the Tri-City Energy project in Keokuk, Iowa. That plant was expected to begin producing 5 MMgy later this month.
Northeast Nebraska Biodiesel’s plant will be capable of producing 5 MMgy, although initial production is expected to be approximately 2 MMgy, according to the company’s Web site. The biodiesel plant may also include a glycerin purification system designed by TechnoChem.
The motivation behind Northeast Nebraska Biodiesel was simple, according to Byrnes. “There was no biodiesel production in Nebraska,” he said. “And there are plenty of soybeans.”
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Nebraska doesn’t have any commercial-scale biodiesel producers. However, Beatrice Biodiesel LLC, a 50 MMgy project near Beatrice, Neb., broke ground last month and is expected to start-up next fall.
Northeast Nebraska Biodiesel LLC
Location: Scribner, Nebraska
Design/builder: TechnoChem International Inc.
Capacity: 5 MMgy
Feedstock: soy oil
Biodiesel marketer: undeclared
Start of construction: September 2006
Target start-up date: February 2007
Dave Nilles is Online Editor for Biodiesel Magazine. Reach him at dnilles@bbibiofuels.com or (701) 373-0636.
Posted: 1:16 p.m. CDT Wednesday, October 25, 2006