Keokuk, IA – Just over 7 months after the plans went public, a biodiesel plant in Southeast Iowa could soon be coming online. Sales manager, Al Moander, says Tri-City energy's new 5,000,000 gallon facility, in downtown Keokuk, could be producing fuel by September 1. He says the project was slightly delayed because the plant equipment, which was produced in India, got held up by customs and homeland security. Moander says the 11 employees, who have been hired to operate the plan, will start next week. He says plans are still underway to begin Phase II and Phase III, a soybean crushing plant and a 30,000,000 biodiesel plant, by the first of the year, if not soner. Those facilities will be located along the riverfront. The total value of the project is about $50,000,000. Tri-City Energy has received a $500,000 grant and a $2,000,000 loan guarantee from the USDA. 8 renewable energy projects, in Iowa, received federal funding.
Biodiesel Plant Moving Forward
