Wisconsin Ag Connection - Renew Energy Ethanol Plant Will Either Sell or Close in Weeks

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Renew Energy Ethanol Plant Will Either Sell or Close in Weeks
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/23/2009

The owners of Wisconsin's only ethanol plant to seek bankruptcy protection says the facility will either be sold or will close down in the coming weeks. On Friday, Renew Energy LLC in Jefferson submitted plant-closing paperwork with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, stating that 70 employees could be affected by a possible closing as of December 11. However, the documents also noted that the company's first priority is to find a buyer for the plant; and hopes the new owners would retain the employees.

Renew, which filed for Chapter 11 under the United States Bankruptcy Code in February, says the sale of the company or a shutdown is expected sometime between December 11 and late-January. The documents didn't indicate whether a deal with a possible buyer was in the works.

As Wisconsin Ag Connection reported earlier this year, the ethanol plant owed its creditors over $100 million and was directly tied to the financial failures of Olsen's Mill, which has since been forced into receivership. The grain handling company borrowed millions of dollars to help finance the construction and operation of the ethanol plant and wasn't able to pay back its creditors because of the slowdown in the ethanol industry. Olsen's also handled all the corn purchasing agreements for Renew Energy.

Renew's ethanol plant was built on the site of what was once the largest malting plant in the world, which the company purchased from Cargill in 2006. Production began the following year. At its peak, they were producing about 210,000 gallons of ethanol a day using 80,000 bushels of corn per day.

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