POET announced today the purchase of a 90 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant located just outside Cloverdale, Ind. and previously operated by Altra Biofuels.

Making the announcement from the Renewable Energy Finance Forum in New York, POET CEO Jeff Broin said this will be POET’s fourth ethanol plant in Indiana and 27th facility nationwide, bringing the company’s annual ethanol production capacity to 1.7 billion gallons per year. “We have been looking at potential acquisitions for some time,” Broin said. “This plant, in this community, will be a perfect fit for what we do at POET.”

This is the first acquisition for the company since their original plant back in 1987, the rest were built by POET from the ground up. POET will install the company’s proprietary process technology and improve the original plant design. The approximately $30 million in upgrades include BPX, POET’s patent-pending fermentation process which uses enzymes instead of heat, reducing energy use by 10-15 percent. In addition, POET will install a water recovery system and new pollution control equipment. POET expects to reopen the plant in 8-9 months.

Listen to the press conference with Jeff Broin here: POET CEO Jeff Broin on Indiana Ethanol Plant Acquisition