POET Acquires Putnam County, Indiana Ethanol Plant
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.
The transaction closed June 29. Once open, the Cloverdale plant will be POET’s fourth in Indiana and 27th overall, putting annual ethanol production capacity at 1.7 billion gallons per year.
POET CEO Jeff Broin said the productive agriculture community in and around Cloverdale, coupled with POET’s unique processes and technology, will make POET Biorefining – Cloverdale a leader in the industry.
“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.”
The plant will create 40-45 direct jobs and hundreds of secondary jobs, something Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman said would be a welcome addition for the area.
“Biofuels continue to be a vibrant industry here in Indiana, and we’re glad that POET is making another commitment to Indiana and its workers,” Skillman said. “These new jobs and the use of this existing facility will be a tremendous boost for Putnam County.”
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 about 9 months.
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