Seaboard Energy held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new biodiesel plant in Hugoton, KS, on October 6.
The new facility will staff 74 employees and produce 85 million gallons of renewable diesel annually, according to a company news release. The renewable fuels will be primarily derived from local animal fats and vegetable oils.
Seaboard expects to blend and ship biodiesel from the company's other biodiesel plants in Guymon, OK, and St. Joseph, MO, from the 800-acre site in Hugoton.
Seaboard Energy purchased the former Abengoa Bioenergy SA site, an idle cellulosic ethanol plant, in Hugoton from Synata Hugoton, LLC in February 2019 for $300 million. The new facility sits on 100 acres part of the nearly 800-acre site bought from Abengoa.
The company has "recommissioned portions of the idle assets while simultaneously" building the renewable diesel facilities.
"The facility location provides Seaboard Energy a strategic geographic advantage to capitalize on the integrated supply of inputs from area feedstock producers, Seaboard Foods' processing plant and Seaboard Foods' farms," said President and CEO Gary Louis in the news release.
Other Seaboard Energy facilities
- Guymon, OK: Seaboard Energy Oklahoma began production in 2008 and is strategically located adjacent to the Seaboard Foods pork processing plant in Guymon, OK. The biodiesel plant utilizes the pork fat from Seaboard’s processing plant as a feedstock, in addition to other animal fats in the area. The plant was originally nameplated for 30 million gallons annually but over time has increased its capacity to 45 million gallons through a series of debottlenecking efforts.
- St. Joseph, MO: Seaboard Energy Missouri began production in October 2016, using distillers corn oil as well as other regionally sourced feedstocks. The plant uses an enzymatic process featuring a distillation column to produce clear, low-cloud biodiesel. Its annual production capacity is 30 million gallons.
Seaboard Energy, formerly known as High Plains Bioenergy, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seaboard Corp.
