Ethanol developer plans expansion for coming Cape plant

Business Today

The developer of a proposed ethanol plant in Cape Girardeau says he's already got plans to expand it.

The proposed $58 million plant will use alcohol blended with gasoline to create ethanol fuel.

Phil Danforth, a Kansas City-area developer and general manager of Renewable Power, told local officials Jan. 29 that the plant would initially produce 40 million gallons of fuel annually. But after a year of operation the plant would be expanded and annual production doubled to 80 million gallons.

Danforth gave a progress report on the proposed plant to 40 area officials at the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association's annual luncheon in Jackson.

Robinson Construction of Perryville, Mo., has been hired to manage construction for the project.

"We are really, really close to getting ground broke," said Danforth, who broke ground for a smaller ethanol plant in Marshall, Mo., last fall and also has plans to build an ethanol plant in Carbondale, Ill.

He said the plant is expected to get as much as 2.8 gallons of ethanol from each bushel of corn.

Danforth said his company, in partnership with two other firms, plans to spend up to $150 million to develop both the ethanol plant and a related energy plant in the Nash Road industrial park. Combined, the plants could generate 139 permanent jobs, with most of those involving the power plant, he said.

The financing will come from industrial revenue bonds. The Cape Girardeau County Industrial Development Authority approved the issuance of up to $250 million in revenue bonds in November.

Danforth said he's already secured the major environmental permit needed for the project. Construction could begin in late spring or early summer, he said.

It could take up to 18 months to complete the construction, although the ethanol plant is expected to be finished within 14 months and could go into operation a few months before the power plant is switched on.

The proposed 15-megawatt power plant would generate electricity from waste -- everything from wood chips to low-grade coal, municipal garbage and agricultural waste, Danforth said.

The various waste materials could be burned in a boiler or turned into gas to power an electric plant.

The power plant would provide electricity to power the ethanol plant -- saving an estimated $5 million a year in energy costs -- and could sell excess power to other businesses in the industrial park, Danforth said.

Nationwide, there are currently 75 ethanol plants producing 3.1 billion gallons of the alternative fuel annually.