Valero Takes Reins at Indiana and Ohio Fuel Ethanol Plants

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) (San Antonio, Texas) and subsidiary Valero Renewable Fuels Company LLC (San Antonio) are now the owners of two fuel ethanol plants in Linden, Indiana, and Bloomingburg, Ohio, that the company acquired from ASA Ethanol Holdings LLC (Linden, Ohio).

The estimated $200 million-plus deal is now final. With the acquisition of the plants, Valero is set to gobble up an additional 350 million gallons of ethanol capacity. The purchase of a third plant, the Renew Energy plant in Jefferson, Wisconsin, has been challenged by ALL Fuels & Energy out of Iowa, which has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court stating that ALL Fuels was the highest bidder for the plant and should take ownership.

In December of last year, the company announced that they had signed agreements to purchase plants in Linden and Bloomingburg from ASA Ethanol Holdings, formerly the bankrupt VeraSun.

The Linden plant has a nameplate capacity of 110 million gallons per year, and the Jefferson plant can produce 130 million gallons per year. Both plants utilize corn feedstocks. The 110 million-gallon-per-year Bloomingburg plant is currently shuttered, and production is expected to resume during the first quarter of 2010.

The Indiana and Bloomingburg plants utilize ICM Incorporated (Colwich, Kansas) process technology and the Jefferson plant has Delta-T Corporation (Williamsburg, Virginia) technology.

When all of the plants are producing, Valero will have the capacity for more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol annually, ranking the company among the top domestic producers.

In the first quarter of 2009, Valero purchased five operational plants from bankrupt VeraSun for $280 million, a steal of a deal. The plants are in Aurora, South Dakota; Charles City, Fort Dodge and Hartley, Iowa; and Welcome, Minnesota. Combined, the five plants have the capacity to produce 670 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol.

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.

View Plant Profile - 1066864 1066840 1066199 1072829 1062384 1067753 1071286 1066855

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.