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Big biofuel plant to be built in Canada's Alberta
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; c/ z5 H' M* z' D$ K5 |# O CWINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - North America's largest biofuel refinery will be built in central Alberta near the town of Innisfail, and could be producing fuels in the third quarter of 2008, the plant's developers said on Tuesday.# H# P. \- |, u U/ i3 P8 n
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The C$400 million ($354 million) complex will be able to produce 378 million liters (100 million gallons) each of ethanol, canola oil and biodiesel, said private equity firms Riverstone Holdings and Carlyle Group and privately held Dominion Energy LLC.5 w( f+ M* U& U
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"I don't know if there's (a plant) like it anywhere right now, but I'm sure there will be," said Curtis Chandler, president of Dominion Energy, in an interview.
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1 p% w2 L! F! R1 i* k8 R"It made sense to locate them all on one facility, from ... not only a capital cost, but an operating cost on a go-forward basis," Chandler said.7 ?& m) P B* D6 B
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Innisfail, which is within Canada's main grain-producing region, was chosen for its skilled workforce and its proximity to Canadian Pacific rail service, said Stephen Schaefer, managing director of Riverstone, in a statement.
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"For farmers who need to rotate crops between wheat and canola, you're kind of a one-stop shop for them," Chandler said." h* S% D- a3 d& l' D9 J2 i0 F
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The developers expect to start work on the plant this summer, pending environmental approval from the provincial government.
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The plant will produce biofuel primarily for the Canadian market, but it could also ship fuel by rail to the United States, Chandler said.# J! I: R4 l& B7 \! |4 B( \3 |
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Canada will have a renewable fuel standard of 5 percent ethanol in gasoline by 2010 and, pending cold weather research tests, 2 percent biodiesel in diesel fuel by 2012.
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. C) H7 ^9 u/ n" e# _' @1 d' BThe federal government has pledged C$1.5 billion over seven years in incentives to biofuel producers, and the Alberta government has offered an additional C$209 million over four years to biofuel producers in that province.
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The new plant will be able to ship canola meal and distillers' dried grain -- byproducts used in livestock feed -- by rail to the Pacific port of Vancouver for export to Asian markets, Chandler said.! y7 M9 x9 I) \
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It is designed to use wheat to produce ethanol, and canola oil for biodiesel, but the plant could also use corn, barley or imported vegetable oils if they were cheaper, he said." j: V( j/ V+ P& Z
0 Q z7 T8 c* S) }Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, LP will own a controlling stake in the plant.
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, K( z3 M5 [0 d; f u; C, tRiverstone and Dominion are also building a 15-million gallon ethanol plant in Collingwood, Ontario, that will start producing fuel in June. |
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