Plans are in place for the Northeast Biofuels LLC 100 MMgy ethanol plant in Volney, N.Y., to become operational again during the second quarter of 2010. The facility began production in August 2008, but ceased operations after only a few months when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. Major oil refiner Sunoco Inc. purchased the plant for $8.5 million in April through a bankruptcy auction.
According to Brian Roach, general manager of Northeast Biofuels, Sunoco intends to invest about $20 million into the front end of the facility, including the fermentation area. “The plant is being modified and prepared for startup, which we expect sometime in the second quarter of 2010,” Roach said.
So far no staff have been hired or re-hired, but the company intends to begin hiring once other details are managed. “We’re working to finalize the construction schedule and once we know more about the construction schedule we’ll finalize the details about rehiring staff, training and preparing for startup,” Roach said.
During the initial construction, problems with piping and a flaw in the design of the plant brought construction to a halt. Roach said those issues are being addressed by Sunoco and will be solved before the plant opened. “Sunoco is committed to making investments in the plant to make it operational and moving forward quickly with plans to get the plant back in operation,” Roach said.
Article Continues After Advertisement
Once complete, the plant will have a nameplate capacity closer to 85 MMgy and will employ approximately 50 workers, according to Roach.
