Green Plains Inc. hosted a ribbon cutting and open house event at its new Hopewell, Virginia ethanol production facility which the company acquired in October 2015.
NCGA president Chip Bowling (left center) at Green Plains Virginia ethanol plant
“We are excited to see ethanol production back up and running in Virginia,” said Bowling. “The Hopewell plant will give Mid-Atlantic farmers another market for their crop. It’s good for the ag economy, and for consumers, who will now have access to renewable fuels grown and produced even closer to home. This is win-win.”
The Hopewell ethanol facility, which opened in April 2014, was the first ethanol operation on the East Coast, producing ethanol from corn, barley, and other small grains. The facility stopped production in August 2015 and was bought by Nebraska-based Green Plains in October. Green Plains also announced this week that it was the successful bidder on three ethanol plants for sale by Abengoa Bioenergy conducted under the provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company will purchase the Madison, Ill., Mount Vernon, Ind. and York, Neb. ethanol facilities, with combined annual production capacity of 236 million gallons per year, for approximately $237 million in cash.
“We continue to focus on making strategic investments in high quality assets as we expand our production footprint,” said Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer at Green Plains. “The Madison and Mount Vernon plants will give us access to the Mississippi River, supporting our new export terminal planned in Beaumont, Texas. In addition, we will broaden our product offering globally with industrial alcohol production at the York plant. These acquisitions further our commitment to deliver long-term value for both Green Plains Inc. and Green Plains Partners shareholders.”
Upon completion of the acquisitions, Green Plains will own and operate 17 dry mill ethanol facilities with combined production capacity of nearly 1.5 billion gallons per year.