WASHINGTON (Feb 8, 2013) – Senator John Hoeven and Great River Energy (GRE) Friday announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Renewable Fuel Standard-2 certification for the company’s Dakota Spirit AgEnergy facility in the Spiritwood Park near Jamestown.

Hoeven last summer pressed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to expedite the approval process.

Friday’s notice of certification clears the way for GRE to market next generation biofuels as part of a model energy complex.

Under the EPA’s revised Renewable Fuel Standard, cornstarch-based ethanol production facilities built after 2007 are required to produce fuels containing 20 percent less carbon intensity than conventional transportation fuels.

The EPA’s approval certifies that Dakota Spirit AgEnergy meets the low-carbon threshold.

 

The Dakota Spirit AgEnergy biorefinery, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Great River Energy, will be located adjacent to Great River Energy’s Spiritwood Station power plant near Jamestown and Spiritwood.

Most of the energy needed to operate the corn-based biorefinery will come in the form of waste steam provided by Great River Energy’s adjacent power plant.

The power plant will go online once the ethanol plant is completed.

To date, Dakota Spirit AgEnergy has completed business planning, engineering and now, RFS2 certification.

Greg Ridderbusch, president of Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, and vice president of business development and strategy, Great River Energy, says, “We are pleased we could bring the EPA regulatory review of our unique RFS2 pathway to a successful and collaborative conclusion,”

The company will work to complete financing by spring and plans to break ground in the summer of 2013

Plans are for the power plant to also provide low-cost steam power to the nearby Cargill malt plant.

Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of GRE, will have a significant impact on the local economy, creating 36 direct jobs in the community.

The project will also create approximately 275 trade and construction jobs during the 18-month construction period.

The biorefinery will use 23 million bushels of No. 2 yellow corn to produce annually 65 million gallons of ethanol, as well as corn oil and distiller’s grains.

Future growth opportunities for the biorefinery are also being explored, including emerging technologies such as cellulosic feed stocks, and the production of isobutanol, an organic compound used primarily as a solvent.

The facility will also incorporate technology to meet the EPA’s revised Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires cornstarch-based ethanol production facilities built after 2007 to have lifecycle carbon emissions 20 percent lower than conventional motor fuels.

The Spiritwood Energy Park is a project that originated during Hoeven’s governorship under Empower North Dakota, the state’s first comprehensive energy plan, encompassing both traditional and renewable energy sources.

The energy complex includes Spiritwood Station, a coal-fired plant that produces both electricity and steam, and now the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy facility.

CHS, a Fortune 500 company owned by agricultural cooperatives and farmers and ranchers, is also planning to build a $1.4 billion fertilizer plant in the park to take advantage of shared resources and infrastructure.

Hoeven said the project will become a national example of how combined heat and power can be used to enhance industrial efficiencies and lower the carbon footprint of transportation motor fuels.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission provided a $500,000 grant for the project’s feasibility study.

Members of the Industrial Commission are Governor Dalrymple, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring.

Governor Jack Dalrymple  applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s long-awaited decision to approve a renewable fuels certification.

 North Dakota Ag- Commissioner, Doug Goehring says, “This is the state’s first advanced biofuels facility, a ‘hybrid’ of sorts.” Goehring.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, says,  “Commissioner Goehring and I saw firsthand in Denmark how this renewable energy technology can be used to fuel our homes and industries in North Dakota and Minnesota.” 

 Congressman Kevin Cramer says, “Our dynamic economy serves as a leader for the rest of the nation.  The Dakota Spirit AgEnergy ethanol biorefineries expected creation of several hundred jobs certainly maintains this reputation.”

Senator Heidi Heitkamp, also applauded the announcement, saying, ” I applaud Dakota Spirit AgEnergy’s efforts on its progress, and I look forward to continued collaboration with Dakota Spirit and other North Dakota stakeholders to lead the nation in energy development. The increase in North Dakota production of biofuels is not only good for our state’s economy, but it will help us to alleviate our dependence on foreign oil.”