Aventine's Aurora West Fuel Ethanol Plant Begins Rising from the Ground in Nebraska

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Construction for publicly traded ethanol producer and marketer Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Incorporated's (NYSE:AVR) (Pekin, Illinois) plant in Aurora, Nebraska, is in full swing, as production equipment begins to arrive and is installed and erected.

Dirt work and underground utilities have been installed, and seven new fermentation tanks are starting to be fabricated, along with a 225-foot crane. The plant is being built by Kiewit Construction Company (Houston, Texas) and will utilize Delta-T licensed ethanol process technology.

Aventine received its air-quality construction permit from Nebraska's Department of Environmental Quality in late September and has been permitted to build a 226 million-gallon-per-year plant. However, the company has decided to do just one phase now, a 113 million-gallon-per-year plant, and to construct the additional capacity as market conditions improve.

Phase I represents an estimated $250 investment for the company, and the plant is expected to be operational by December 2008.

The plant is on an 86-acre site next to Nebraska Energy LLC, which has been operating since 1995. The plant will utilize existing Aurora Cooperative grain-handling systems to bring corn into the plant.

Aventine is also progressing on construction of its 226 million-gallon-per-year plant in Mount Vernon, Indiana, using the same construction contractor and technology provider. The Mount Vernon plant is also expected to be completed by late 2008.

In all, the new plants and expansion activity represent a total capital investment of more than $665 million.

Aventine Renewable Energy is a leading producer, marketer and end-to-end distributor of ethanol and biodiesel to many leading energy companies in the United States. Aventine also produces distillers grains, corn gluten feed, corn germ and brewer's yeast.

Industrial Info's Ethanol Database provides a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging alternative fuels market. This database covers 124 ethanol plants in operation and 504 plants under development. It also covers 68 operational biodiesel plants and 205 biodiesel plants under development.

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