Renewable x 2
Corn Plus taps wind power to
operate ethanol plant
By Dan Campbell, Editor
or dramatic evidence
of the rapidly
developing renewable
energy economy in
rural America, focus
your attention on the Corn Plus
Ethanol plant, near Winnebago, Minn.
Not only is this producer-owned
cooperative squeezing 44 million
gallons of ethanol out of its members’
corn each year, but two giant, 2.1
megawatt wind turbines were also
recently erected, which will supply
about 40 percent of the electricity needed to
operate the plant. That’s enough power to light
up 1,000 homes each year. Which makes this
plant a “renewable times two” operation.
The turbines were installed in August and
were to be commissioned by mid-October.
Corn Plus teamed up with John Deere and
Renewable Energy Solutions on the wind turbine
project. Much of the initial cost for the turbines
will be offset through the use of production tax
credits (PTCs).
“We couldn’t pass the tax credits on to our
members, but John Deere can use them,” says
General Manager Keith Kor.
Deere provided financing for the turbines and
the construction crews that installed them. These
two turbines were among 100 that Deere
purchased from Suzlon Energy Ltd.
After 10 years, Corn Plus will have the
option of buying the turbines back from
Deere. Corn Plus will buy the wind
energy from John Deere.
Dan Moore, director of Renewable
Energy Solutions, was quoted in the
Mankato Free Press as saying that he
thinks some other ethanol plants will
follow the example of Corn Plus’ use of
wind power. “It just makes so much
sense — a renewable making a
renewable.”
The co-op’s wind electricity price
will be locked in for 10 years. “We’re
getting a good price,” Kor says.
The co-op’s goal is to eventually run
the ethanol plant without any need for
outside energy.
Slashing natural gas needs
Helping it reach this
goal is a new, fluidizedbed
boiler — the only
one of its kind — which
creates steam to run the
plant. The boiler burns
corn syrup produced as a
byproduct during the
ethanol-making process.
The fluidized-bed
boiler has already
reduced natural gas needs
by 50 to 60 percent. This
will save the plant about
$6 million to $7 million
per year, Kor says.
Corn Plus has 750
members, most of whom
are farmers. There are
two sister-business
entities: Corn Plus Cooperative and
Corn Plus LLLP, a limited liability
limited partnership that operates the
ethanol plant.
The ethanol plant originally opened
in 1994 with a 15 million gallon
capacity, but by 2001 had been
expanded to 44 million gallons.
“About a year and a half ago,
everyone was advising ethanol plant
operators to expand,” Kor says. “But we
evaluated the situation and decided our
best approach
was to become a
low-cost
producer.” Hence
the decision to
take firm steps
toward reducing
the energy needs
of the operation.
Reducing its
gas needs may also yield other benefits
for Corn Plus. In August, it joined the
Chicago Climate Exchange, a
greenhouse gas emissions registry and
trading program that seeks to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Corn Plus
will receive carbon credits based on its
reduced gas consumption. At the
current rate, it will receive about 42,000
tons of credits, with a value of about
$240,000.
Kor is also excited about the
possibilities of two revolutionary new
pelletized products Corn Plus is
producing: a fertilizer and a livestock
feed. Both are derived from ethanol
byproducts.
The fluidized-bed boiler produces
about 25 tons of ash a day, which is
being turned into about 9,000 tons of
fertilizer pellets per year. These pellets
are rich in phosphorous and potassium,
as well as other micronutrients, Kor
says.
The co-op also has a patent pending
for a process it developed to pelletize
dried distillers grains (DDG). One of
the big knocks against using DDG for
livestock feed is that it tends to stick to
the sides of bins and trucks (see
“Measuring the gains of distillers
grains,” page 18 in the Sept.-Oct 2006
issue of Rural Cooperatives). By turning
DDG into pellets, Kor says it will
greatly ease use in farm feeding
operations.
Deep roots in industry
Kor began working in the ethanol
industry in 1982 at a small plant in
Houston, Minn., and later worked at
plants in Iowa and Jamaica. He’s been at
Corn Plus since 1995.
“I never thought the industry would
grow so much so fast,” he says. “There
were so many naysayers all these years.
I can recall seeing filling stations with
signs that bragged ‘We don’t sell
ethanol.’ Now they do the opposite.”
Having been in the business since its
infancy, Kor has seen ethanol go though
a number of up and down cycles, and
doesn’t seem overly worried by the
current slump in prices. When
interviewed in late September, ethanol
prices had fallen about 25 percent from
the high levels of just a year or so
before.
“High ethanol prices led to a rash of
plant construction, and now in some
areas there is a glut of ethanol. But
plans for many plants are being shelved
now, while others can no longer get
financing,” Kor says, adding that he is
confident that the market will stabilize
and correct.
“What now concerns me the most is
that so many of these new plants are
not farmer owned,” says Kor. “Outside
investors poured their money in and
turned ethanol into a gold rush. Now
we’ll have to see how much
consolidation occurs and how that
impacts the ownership structure of the
industry.”
As for cellulosic ethanol, Kor says he
has few doubts that it is coming. “And I
think that’s great. I think you will see
cellulosic ethanol plants right next door
to corn ethanol plants, and they will be
using corn stover and prairie grasses.
We need both kinds of plants.”
WIREC Conference set for March 4-6 in D.C.
Renewable energy is “the greatest opportunity for wealth
creation in rural areas in our lifetime.” That’s what Under
Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development Thomas Dorr
told a gathering of stakeholders during the formal announcement
of the 2008 Washington International Renewable Energy
Conference (WIREC) on Oct. 2 at U.S. State Department
headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Billed as “an international platform for government, private
sector and non-governmental leaders to jointly address
the goal of advancing renewable energy,” WIREC 2008 will
be held March 4-6 at the Washington Convention Center.
Dorr joined State Department
Under Secretary for Democracy
and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky
in urging federal and local government
officials and private sector
leaders to attend the event.
Renewable energy “offers an
extraordinary opportunity for agricultural
producers,” Dorr told the
gathering.“ There are opportunities
at every point in the value chain.”
Dorr said WIREC is “an opportunity
to share our own experiences,
and ultimately to learn from the
best practices in other countries as
well. It is important in this discussion
to remember that renewable
energy is, in large part, rural energy:
ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and biomass technology,
all of which rely primarily on farm and forest
resources. Wind, because of its siting requirements, is also
largely a rural resource.”
Some solar and geothermal technologies may also be
suitable for deployment in urban as well as rural areas, Dorr
noted. But these energy sources are still more likely to be
sited in rural areas, especially for industrial-scale projects.
The conference should provide invaluable learning
opportunities and chances to make government and industry
contacts for producer and utility co-ops and LLCs that are
involved in, or are considering,
renewable energy projects.
Dorr emphasized his belief
that the strong growth in U.S.
renewable energy resources in
the past few years shows that
private enterprise is up to the
challenge of meeting future
energy needs. “If there’s one
thing we know,” he declared,
“it’s that markets work.”
For registration and other
information on the 2008 WIREC
conference, please visit:
www.wirec2008.gov.
