- Production starts in Nevada, Iowa: First Verbio biorefinery in North America combining production of bioethanol and biomethane
- Efficiency increases and expansion at Verbio’s South Bend, Indiana location
- Successful expansion and growth in North America
Leipzig, 1. August 2024 – Verbio announces significant advances in the North America region. These developments are evidence of the successful expansion of our business, and underline our commitment to innovation and growth.
New milestone: Production starts in the ethanol production line in Nevada
Verbio has commenced the commercial manufacture of ethanol from corn at its Nevada, Iowa location. The biomethane production line was successfully commissioned back in March and has now been converted to operate using stillage, a waste stream from bioethanol production. The process of combined bioethanol and biomethane production, one of Verbio’s unique selling points, has been used successfully in Verbio’s German plants for more than a decade, and is being developed further on an ongoing basis. Verbio’s biorefinery in Nevada is the first industrial-scale biomethane and bioethanol co-production plant in North America, providing evidence of Verbio’s competitive advantages, also in the USA. With a production capacity of 180,000 tonnes of bioethanol and 680,000 MWh of biomethane, it is expected that the biorefinery will reach full
capacity utilisation within six to nine months. The biomethane will be fed into the regional natural gas network and will be available for use as a renewable energy source for industrial applications in the voluntary market or as biofuel.
Efficiency increases and expansion at South Bend
Following the implementation of measures to increase the availability and efficiency of ethanol production in South Bend, Indiana last year, Verbio has been able to stabilise production at the ethanol plant in 2024. Overall we expect an approximately 20 percent increase in production volume in 2024 compared to 2023. Against the backdrop of the attractive margin situation in the summer, as a result of the driving season and attractive feedstock prices, Verbio is thus benefiting from the favourable market conditions.
The ethanol plant at South Bend is one of the first and oldest in the USA. Verbio acquired the plant in May 2023 from Mercuria Investments, and announced investments totalling 230 million US dollars. The modernisation and conversion of the plant, which is being transformed into a state-of-the-art facility thanks to our process expertise, is just the beginning. The ground-breaking ceremony for a biomethane production line has already taken place, and when the plant expansion is complete South Bend will offer combined production of bioethanol and biomethane based on the innovative Verbio technology and modelled on the Group’s German Verbio biorefineries. Once the expansion is completed, the new plant will have an annual production capacity of at least 250,000 tonnes of bioethanol and approximately 850,000 MWh of biomethane. The commissioning of the combined bioethanol-biomethane production facility is planned for 2026/2027.
Improvements have also been made in Canada, where the biodiesel plant with a total biodiesel capacity of 150,000 tonnes achieved record capacity utilisation in the financial year 2023/2024. In doing so it supported Verbio’s growth projects in the USA.
Successful growth prospects in North America
The North America location offers ideal conditions for our biorefinery concept, such as a competitive supply of raw materials and excellent infrastructure for the global marketing of our products. Verbio is determined to grow in North America by increasing the capacity utilisation of our growth projects, driving innovation and making targeted investments. We see these developments not only as progress for our production facilities, but also as a contribution to sustainable economic development in the region.