VeraSun Energy commences operations at 110 Mgy corn ethanol plant in North Dakota

In North Dakota, VeraSun Energy said that it would commence operations at its 110 Mgy corn ethanol plant at Hankinson.

Previously, VeraSun Energy delayed the Hankinson plant citing “current volatility in the market” as a reason for halting work on the plant, which was scheduled for opening next month.   “Ethanol is currently being sold at a deep discount to unleaded gasoline, which has caused us to delay the startup of these facilities until the outlook for ethanol selling prices and overall margins improve,” said Don Endres, VeraSun’s chief executive officer. The plant was originally a US BioEnergy project, but became a VeraSun Energy facility when the two companies merged earlier this year.

VeraSun Energy background

VeraSun Energy named Duane Gilliam as chairman on the company, succeeding Gordon Ommen. Gilliam was a formed executive vice president of Marathon Ashland and a director of the American Petroleum Institute.

This past spring, VeraSun Energy said it will launch an E30 blend at the Get-N-Go in Sioux Falls. The blend will be available for use by owners of flex-fuel vehicles. Owners of other vehicles are required by the EPA to use no higher than an E10 blend.

Following completion of its merger with US BioEnergy, VeraSun has been on a spree of plant completions and openings in 2008. In Nebraska earlier this year, VeraSun Energy officially opened its 100 Mgy corn ethanol plant in Albion. The $200 million plant is credited with sparking a boomlet in local real estate, according to Boone County authorities.

In April, the company had crossed the 1 billion gallon mark with when its 110 Mgy facility in Bloomingburg commenced production. It was the 11th VeraSun facility and the fourth ethanol plant in Ohio. Total production at this time is estimated at 1.2 Bgy following the opening of the Hankinson plant.

The company had predicted the completion of construction at its 110 Mgy corn ethanol plant at Hartley by the end of June. Construction commenced in November 2006.

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