Construction Halted at NPP Evansville Biodiesel Plant

from The Wisconsin State Journal:
Monday, November 12, 2007 - 11:16PM
soybean oil prices stop construction of Evansville biodiesel plant
MARV BALOUSEK

... (NPP board chairman John) Sheehy said if soybean oil prices go down or diesel fuel prices look like they're going up for an extended period, construction could resume, possibly as early as next spring.

"The biodiesel plants are struggling right now with these prices," he said. "We're in a better position because we aren't so far along that we have debt payments."

Sheehy said several Iowa biodiesel plants that rely on soybean oil also have suspended production due to the prices.

He said site preparation, footings, underground electrical work, roads and transformers have been completed at the Evansville plant. A storage building also has been erected.

Judy Ziewacz, director of the state Office of Energy Independence, said an emerging industry like biodiesel is bound to have stops and starts.

"It appears to be a prudent business decision on their part," she said. "We're still optimistic production will come online sometime in 2008."

Planning continues for an $85 million soybean crushing plant next to the proposed Evansville biodiesel facility. The crushing plant, which received a $4 million grant in the new state budget, would produce soybean oil for biodiesel and soybean meal for animal feed.

The halt to production of the biodiesel plant will have minimal impact on the crushing facility, which isn't slated to open for 18 months, said John Blaska, board chairman of Landmark Services Cooperative of Cottage Grove.

"It does not adversely affect our plans for the soybean crusher," he said. If the construction delay for the biodiesel plant is long enough, he said, both plants could benefit by sharing engineering and other construction costs.

Read More>>