Further expansion in North America's Bioenergy Market: Verbio acquires South Bend Ethanol

STAMFORD, Conn., May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Verbio North America Holdings Corporation announced today the signing and closing of a purchase agreement with Mercuria Investments US, Inc. to acquire South Bend Ethanol, LLC, an operating ethanol plant located in South Bend, Indiana. As a global leader in the renewable energy industry, this will be Verbio`s second US production facility following the successful commissioning of its Nevada, IA plant. Verbio intends to subsequently expand and develop the plant into a modern biorefinery at an estimated total investment of $230 million.

"We are excited about the opportunity to integrate the production of ethanol with renewable natural gas (RNG) in the state of Indiana," comments Stefan Schreiber, Executive Board Member for North America of Verbio AG, the German based parent company. "We believe this transaction provides an excellent path for Verbio to further strengthen its North America business and growth strategy. The site offers a competitive location as well as existing infrastructure and meets our requirements for access to the natural gas grid, electricity, feedstock sources and water supply."

Integration of the ethanol production with the RNG production process, unique to the Verbio brand and developed successfully at the company`s facilities in Europe over the past decade, will result in higher efficiencies and improved sustainability. The site will be developed over the next three years incorporating Verbio's advanced engineering and operating technology practices. Following commissioning, the production capacity of the plant will be at 85 million gallons of corn ethanol and 2.8 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of RNG per year.

Verbio will retain the assets of the existing ethanol plant and seek to improve yields and reduce energy consumption over the next several months. The investment will incorporate additional equipment and processes necessary to produce value-added by-products, such as liquid fertilizers. Further, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, aiming to boost investments in climate protection and clean energy in the United States, offers provisions that will benefit the Verbio project. (…)

View full press release here: https://tinyurl.com/5mfzhc3n 

IMAGE for download: https://tinyurl.com/yrpzct24
Ethanol plant in South Bend, Indiana. © Verbio 

SOURCE VERBIO North America Holdings Corporation