Sweetwater inks USD-100m deal for cellulosic ethanol production

Jan 17, 2013 - US cellulosic sugar producer Sweetwater Energy Inc said Wednesday it had sealed a USD-100-million (EUR 75m) contract with ethanol manufacturer Front Range Energy to produce cellulosic ethanol at the latter's corn-ethanol plant in Colorado.

As part of the 15-year agreement, Sweetwater will process locally available cellulosic, non-food biomass into sugar, to be used by Front Range for the production of ethanol. It will also install one of its cellulosic facilities next to Front Range’s site in Windsor and provide enough refined sugar for the production of up to 3.6 million gallons (13.6m litres) of ethanol annually in the initial cooperation phase.

The potential value of the contract will require a minimal capital investment by Front Range and is seen to stabilise its feedstock expenditure, Sweetwater said. In addition, the Colorado-based company will be able to diversify its ethanol production by substituting 7% of its corn feedstock with cellulosic sugar, according to Sweetwarer's CEO Arunas Chesonis.

Last week, Sweetwater unveiled a similar partnership agreement with biofuels group Ace Ethanol to launch production of cellulosic ethanol in Wisconsin.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.749)

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