Ethanol company shelves plant development plans - for now

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

© Copyright AgMedia Inc

by GEOFF DALE

Canada’s leading ethanol producer, GreenField Ethanol, has put plans for the company’s largest state-of-the-art production facility in Hensall on hold indefinitely.

But the company’s director of communications says the decision will not affect long-term plans to go ahead with the project.

Melissa Armstrong says the company originally planned to build the Hensall plant at the same time as its Johnstown plant, which was completed in December. When the economic downturn, “it was decided it wouldn’t be prudent to have two huge capital works in the works at the same time.”

The groundbreaking ceremonies for the 200-million litre ethanol facility in Hensall, to be GreenField’s fourth and largest facility, were held in November 2006. Slated to be operational by mid 2008, it was projected to annually process 20-million bushels of Ontario corn were.

While company president/CEO Bob Gallant has yet to announce a new construction schedule for the project, that doesn’t mean it won’t go ahead, Armstrong says.

“We’ve already invested millions into this so it’s going to happen,” she says, adding “we are not backing away from the plant or ethanol production.”

The GreenField announcement is the second setback for the province’s budding ethanol industry. Earlier this month, Suncor Energy Products Inc. halted work on the $120-million expansion of its Mooretown ethanol plant.

Suncor’s manager of communications and stakeholder relations Jason Valliant says company expansion is still very much in the works.

While the expansion is set to start up early next year, he admits the economic downturn means the company may have to reconsider its budget. “We’ll have to look at it once we re-mobilize,” he says.

Pointing to Suncor’s involvement with ethanol projects since 1996, he says the deferral does not alter the company’s long-term commitment to renewable energy nor its view of biofuels’ viability.

Meanwhile GreenField’s Chatham plant manager Angelo Ligori says that operation is doing well.

“Even if there are slowdowns, we have great opportunities, we love corn and we are going to continue processing it for a long time,” he says. “This year everybody is hurting so we are going to go through a little bump in the road. But that’s business.” BF