About 60% of feedstocks needed from farmers have been secured by Abengoa to supply its hybrid biorefinery at Hugoton, KS, scheduled to be operational in 2013, according to the company.
The biorefinery will use enzymatic hydrolysis technology to produce cellulosic bioethanol from biomass. A 20-year power purchase agreement was signed with a utility in Kansas for the sale of 75 megawatts of renewable electricity. With this signing, the project was then able to submit an application for a loan guarantee through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program.
If the project is selected for a loan guarantee, financing could be secured in the first half of 2011.