A micro ethanol plant in South Dakota is set to go under the hammer next month, in a sealed bid auction.

The Genesis Ethanol I facility located in Parker, outside of Sioux Falls, has the capacity to produce two million gallons of ethanol a year from corn feedstocks, and 15,000 tons of distillers grains.

The $6 million prototype facility is being sold by industrial plant auctioneers Maas Companies, of Rochester, Minnesota, in an auction that will end on September 24.

The plant described as the “newest” micro-ethanol facility in the state was started up in 2008, using local corn in a fermentation system to produce ethanol and distiller grain which was sold locally.

Designed to be relatively energy efficient in order to keep production costs down, it was to have been the first in a series of similar plants to be developed throughout the region by Sioux Falls-based Summit Green Energy.

The current air pollution permit, allowing up to two million gallons of production a year, runs until September 2013.
Issues

Maas Companies said “overwhelming” external factors affecting the industry, as well as “operational issues” meant the Genesis I plant was not able to sustain momentum for its operators.

Potential buyers will have the option of operating the plant in its current location, through a new land lease from the current land owner, or dismantling the facility for relocation.

Tyler Maas, sales and marketing director for Mass Companies, said: “The sealed bid sale offers this plant to a new buyer at a significant savings over the approximate $6 million dollars that was invested to design and build the facility. It is a perfect opportunity for an end user to operate it on its current site with some modifications, or for a new start up company with new technology to perfect it on a pilot scale at a new location.”

Source: BrighterEnergy