Approximately 3,500 people attended Missouri Ethanol’s grand opening celebration Sept. 25. The $74 million plant will produce 45 MMgy of ethanol near Laddonia, Mo., which is approximately 100 miles northwest of St. Louis.
The grand opening was held one year to the day ground was broken for the plant. The facility is in the midst of start-up. Corn is being ground, according to Mike Lockrem, Broin’s vice president of communications. Ethanol plants typically take between one and two weeks to reach full capacity following initial corn grinding.
Missouri Ethanol is a partnership of Broin Companies, farmer cooperative East Central Ag Products and Northeast Missouri Grain, which is a 40 MMgy Broin-managed ethanol plant in Macon, Mo.
“Missouri Ethanol is a testament of the hard work done by the local politicians and government administrators involved with the project,” said Broin Companies CEO Jeff Broin. “More importantly, this facility is a wonderful symbol to the renewed growth and value-added economic development in America.”
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In addition to ethanol, the plant will produce 136,000 tons of Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers Products from 16 million bushels of corn. The facility will use Broin’s patent-pending BPX raw starch hydrolysis process. Ethanol Products will market the plant’s ethanol while Dakota Gold Marketing markets the distillers grains coproducts.
The Vanguard Squadron, a South Dakota-based four-plane fleet of 100 percent ethanol-fueled airplanes, entertained the crowd with a formation flyover prior to the ceremony.
The plant is the state’s fourth in operation. Other Missouri plants include Northeast Missouri Grain LLC, Golden Triangle Energy Co-op. Inc. in Craig and Mid-Missouri Energy in Malta Bend. The state now has capacity to produce 145 MMgy of ethanol.
Missouri Ethanol
Location: Laddonia, Missouri
Design/builder: Broin Companies
Process technology: Broin Companies
Capacity: 45 MMgy
Feedstock: corn
Ethanol marketer: Ethanol Products
Distillers grains marketer: Dakota Gold Marketing
Carbon dioxide marketer: N/A
Broke ground: November 2005
Start-up date: September 2006
Dave Nilles is Online Editor for Ethanol Producer Magazine. Reach him at dnilles@bbibiofuels.com or (701) 373-0636.
Posted: 2:26 p.m. CDT Thursday, September 28, 2006
