Noble Americas Gears Up for Ethanol Plant Restart in Indiana

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Noble Americas South Bend Ethanol LLC (South Bend, Indiana), a subsidiary of Noble Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NBL) (Houston, Texas), is wrapping up a $27 million plant retrofit at the former New Energy plant in South Bend, Indiana.

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The testing of plant equipment is almost complete, and the company is planning the restart for mid-December. Once back online, the plant will process more than 35 million bushels of corn per year, to produce 102 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol.

A new corn oil separation addition is part of the retrofit. ICM Incorporated (Colwich, Kansas) provided the technology and installed the system. Extracting corn oil is expected to increase annual revenues by $4 million to $6 million.

The ethanol plant, formerly owned by New Energy Corporation, has been idle for more than a year. In November 2012, New Energy ceased ethanol production, citing high corn prices, high ethanol inventories and low gasoline demand.

Shortly after it was announced, the facility was idled when New Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and began the process of selling its assets. Two auction liquidators, Maynards Industries and Biditup Auctions Worldwide, purchased the plant at auction on January 31, 2013. Noble Americas South Bend Ethanol LLC purchased the plant from the auctions liquidators in July 2013.

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