Mass High Tech - February 12, 2008

BioEnergy closes $210M funding for ethanol plant
Mass High Tech

Alternative fuels company BioEnergy International LLC, a developer of biorefineries and biocatalysts, says it has completed the $210 million financing for its corn ethanol biorefinery in Clearfield, Pa.

The financing for the project was provided through a combination of debt funding from TD Banknorth and Germany-based WestLB, tax-exempt bonds from Sterns Brothers, and equity financing from Norwell's BioEnergy and its investors, including Plainfield Asset Management and Camulos Capital of Connecticut, Itera Ethanol LLC of Florida, Context Capital Management of California and NGP Capital Resources of Texas.

The plant is expected to be a 108 million gallon facility, located in the heart of Pennsylvania. The project kicked off in 2006, when BioEnergy received $17.4 million in funding from the state of Pennsylvania and signed a five-year purchase agreement with New York-based Lukoil Americas, which will purchase the plant's output and market the resulting gasoline-ethanol blend in its network, spanning 13 states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.

Initially, the facility is expected to use corn as a feedstock, which over time will be replaced by organic wastes, according to company officials.

BioEnergy is a privately held biotechnology company that is developing enzyme-based technologies capable of efficiently breaking down organic materials to produce ethanol. Based in Norwell, the company opened a new research and development facility in Woburn last October.