by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, BlueFire Renewables has received a Letter of Intent from The Export Import Bank of China (China EXIM) to provide up to $270 million in debt financing for its 19 million gallon bioenergy project in Fulton, Mississippi.
The companies said they will continue to work together to complete the standard due diligence procedures of the China EXIM bank and meet all credit criteria and condition precedent to reach definitive agreements in order to complete the financing as soon as possible. Once completed, China Three Gorges Corporation and its U.S. subcontractors will begin construction of the Fulton Project.
Earlier this month, BlueFire Renewables finalized a Master Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for its planned cellulosic ethanol facility in Fulton, MS. The contract is with the China International Water and Electric, subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG).
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BlueFire was established to deploy a commercially ready, patented and proven Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology Process, developed originally by Arkenol back in the 1990s, or the profitable conversion of cellulosic waste materials to renewable fuel sources, including Cellulosic Ethanol, Biodiesel, BioJet Fuel, and cellulosic sugars produced under the SucreSource brand.
“At Arkenol,” said CEO Arnold Klann, “we were able to produce ethyl levulinate and levulinic acid, and with ethyl levulinate we could produce additives that could reduce particulate emissions by 95-97 percent, with a 70 percent drop in NOx and a big drop in carbon monoxide. We did a lot of testing with Mobil before it merged with Exxon, and did it all at our pilot plant. So we still have all that.
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The original DOE grant and loan guarantee app …
The big offtake agreement …
Under the agreement, Cooper Marine & Timberlands will supply BlueFire with locally sourced wood chips, forest residual chips, pre-commercial thinnings, construction waste, storm debris, land clearing, and wood waste from furniture manufacturing waste.
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Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract …
Permits …
Last October, BlueFire integrated a synergistic wood pellet production plant to its facility in Fulton. The reconfigured design will be a 9 million gallon per year ethanol plant integrated with a 400,000 ton per year wood pellet plant. The pellets will be sold under long term contracts into the European mandated renewable energy market.
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“This is a significant feat, not just for BlueFire as it also provides a model for the U.S. small business community because it is a strong indication of China’s commitment to support and fund U.S. renewable energy technologies to improve the environment and build a strong foundation for cooperation between China and the U.S. in the field of renewable energy,” stated BlueFire CEO Arnold Klann. READ MORE and MORE (BlueFire Renewables)