Plainview BioEnergy to Idle Texas Ethanol Plant Next Week until Margins Improve

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Plainview BioEnergy LLC (Plainview, Texas), a subsidiary of White Energy Holding Company LLC (Dallas, Texas), plans to idle ethanol production at its Plainview, Texas, plant until ethanol margins improve. This could take a while, as production capacity has dipped 5% on falling margins.

As reported by Industrial Info in May 2008 (see May 13, 2008 article - Plainview Bioenergy's Texas Ethanol Plant Now Fully Operational), the plant has been in operation since April of 2008 and has a nameplate production capacity of 100 million gallons per year. The facility was built by ICM Incorporated (Colwich, Kansas) and Fagen Incorporated (Granite Falls, Minnesota).

The company indicated that plants in Hereford, Texas, and Russell, Kansas, will stay in operation for the meantime. The Hereford plant produces 100 million gallons per year, and the Russell plant has a smaller output of 50 million gallons per year.

The Russell plant also has an onsite 15-megawatt (MW) power generation system that provides 3 MW of electricity to the ethanol plant, as well as process steam. The remaining 12 MW of power are sold to the grid, giving the plant an advantage over other ethanol plants struggling with falling margins.

It has yet to be determined how long the plant will sit idle. The 42 plant employees will be kept on the payroll, waiting for market conditions improve.

Industrial Info's Ethanol Database provides a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging alternative fuels market. This database covers 177 ethanol plants in operation and 530 plants under development. It also covers 145 operational biodiesel plants and 245 biodiesel plants under development.

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