News Releases for August 2007
August 14, 2007
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Hoeven: Blue Flint Ethanol Plant First Of Its Kind In The Nation
Grand Opening To Be Held Today At 2 P.M. In Underwood
BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today will join the management, staff and partners of Blue Flint Ethanol for the grand opening of their new $85 million, 50 million gallon-a-year facility. The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. this afternoon at the Blue Flint facility, 2841 3rd St. SW in Underwood. The plant is a joint venture between Great River Energy (GRE) and Headwaters Incorporated. Blue Flint will use about 18 million bushels of corn per year from North Dakota, and employ approximately 37 full-time employees.
Blue Flint is the first co-located, directly integrated ethanol plant in the nation, using coal and surplus steam from the adjacent Coal Creek power station. The plant does not have a boiler. Surplus heat from the adjacent Coal Creek power plant is redirected to Blue Flint to supply all the heat that a boiler would provide, resulting in one of the most energy efficient, environmentally friendly facilities in the industry. Blue Flint benefited from Bismarck State College's Process Plant Technology Program, which provided well-qualified staff for the facility.
Hoeven cited Blue Flint as an example of the state's steady progress in developing the biofuels industry in North Dakota. Over the past six years, North Dakota has enacted strong production, finance, marketing and tax incentives for biofuels, as well as for wind, biomass, and other alternative energy resources. These, combined with partnerships between industry sectors has encouraged large projects across the state, Hoeven said.
"Four years ago the state had only two small ethanol facilities and no biodiesel facilities," Hoeven said. "Since 2005, capital investments of more than $1.9 billion have been announced for renewable fuels. These will produce almost half a billion gallons of ethanol and 90 million gallons of biodiesel annually."
North Dakota is pursuing a multi-resource energy policy, with appropriate incentives in each energy sector, as well as a conservation component. The state is committed to building a dynamic energy industry by promoting both renewable and traditional energy sources with new technologies and sound environmental stewardship.
In addition to Blue Flint Ethanol, five new projects are already producing fuel, under construction, or in the planning stages.
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