DALLAS - White Energy Ltd., received notice last week that the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has approved the company's air permit for the construction of a 100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Hereford, Texas.
The plant will be adjacent to an existing grain elevator owned and operated by Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) where White Energy will store grain prior to processing.
"We're pleased to have this phase behind us and we're eagerly anticipating the next phase -- building the plant," said White Energy CEO, Trey White.
"This project undoubtedly will be a dynamic catalyst with many positive results for the environment as well as this community. Working with local leaders to bring the first Texas ethanol plant to Hereford is the first step in our plans to build several ethanol plants in the U.S. within the next three years," White added.
White said plans are to break ground before the end of the year and begin ethanol production late in 2006.
The plant will create 38 full-time jobs and support an additional 650 jobs for the area. Plant construction is expected to provide an additional $18 million in spendable income to the local economy and inject more than $100 million into the construction economy within the first year.
"We're excited about White Energy's production facility coming to Hereford as well as the environmentally positive alternatives ethanol brings to agriculture producers and consumers," said Mike Mauldin, president of Hereford State Bank.
Fagen Inc., was hired to oversee construction is currently the industry leader in ethanol plant construction in the U.S.
Industry Consulting and Marketing, Inc. (ICM) was retained to engineer and design the plant. Since 1995, the two companies have engineered, built and/or managed 53 ethanol plants throughout the U.S.
"As a grain sorghum producer in Hereford, I'm excited about the opportunities ethanol brings to this area," said Joe Perrin, Deaf Smith County farmer. "I've worked with the developers of the White Energy Hereford project since the beginning, and I'm glad to see something so beneficial to this area come together."
White Energy Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of White Ventures, a $250 million venture capital firm located in Dallas.
