TC Biodiesel
Keokuk, Iowa
Biodiesel
Section 9006 Grant: $500,000
+ $2 million loan guarantee 2006
The local investors in Tri-City Energy formed a joint venture with three other Iowa companies to build and operate TC Biodiesel, located near the banks of the Mississippi River in southeastern Iowa. The plant, with an annual production capacity of 5 million gallons, went on line in early 2007. The plant is built in a former General Mills wheat processing facility which helped to lower construction costs and made great use of an abandoned building. TC Biodiesel was built with the assistance of a $500,000 Section 9006 grant and $2 million in Section 9006 loan guarantees. Recently, the plant has also begun to produce “technical grade” glycerin from the byproducts of biodiesel production at Tri City and other nearby plants. This glycerin has higher value use as a de-icing agent, further adding to the revenue of the plant. Future plans call for adding a soybean crushing facility and expanding the plant to 30 million gallons of production per year.