GreenField expands its specialty alcohol business By Andrew Macklin GreenField Ethanol became GreenField Specialty Alcohols in 2013, it marked a shift in business philosophy for one of Canada’s longest-running and most successful ethanol producers. Much like the shift that occurred following the first name change – a transition from Commercial Alcohols to GreenField Ethanol in 2006 – the change in name marks a major shift in focus from the ethanol model biofuel plant to a modern biorefinery. With its primary production plant located in Chatham, in the heart of southern Ontario’s corn belt, the company is in an ideal location to take full advantage of a hearty supply of corn for the production of biofuels. Since the plant opened in 1997, GreenField has purchased over $1 billion of corn, producing one billion litres of ethanol and two million tonnes of dried distiller grains (DDGs) in the process. The company has exceeded nameplate capacity production every year since 2002. Beyond ethanol, GreenField is al-ready producing alcohols and CO 2 for the commercial and industrial markets. Industrial alcohols are being sold for beverages like vodka, hand sanitizers, Beyond Ethanol antifreeze, cold medicines and perfumes while CO 2 , a by-product of alcohol pro-duction, is being supplied to the bever-age industry and dry ice manufacturers. Chatham is also an excellent location for the expanding industrial alcohol producer. The plant is less than five minutes from one of Ontario’s 400 series highways, and is an hour drive from two border crossings with Michigan. They have an onsite rail hub and close access to Lakes Huron and Erie. The company uses the Port of Montréal as its hub for exporting to several international markets, including: Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, West Africa, Mexico, and a handful of European and Asian countries. As a result of the expanding global markets within the reach of GreenField’s products, the company now expects only approximately one-third of its products staying in the domestic market, with one-third going to the Americas and the other third reaching European, African and Asian customers. W hen MAJOR INVESTMENT While the name change to GreenField Specialty Alcohols in 2013 may not have been a clear enough indication of the significance of the business shift underway at GreenField, the announcement of a $40 million investment in its Chatham plant in October of 2014, and the projects on which that money is being spent, make the transition abundantly clear. The extra (industrial alcohol) volume will allow GreenField to continue its penetration of international markets... A significant portion of that investment will go toward a second cogeneration facility, which will enable the plant to be self-sufficient for its power requirements. In this regard, GreenField is working with Entegrus, the local electrical distribution company in the Chatham-Kent region. Entegrus is helping GreenField withdraw from the electricity grid, in turn, allowing the power producer to make the surplus power available to MAIN: The GreenField facility in Chatham, Ont. has shifted its focus from strictly ethanol production to a biorefinery. BOTTOM LEFT: The construction of a second cogen unit will allow GreenField to generate its own power by the end of 2015. BOTTOM RIGHT: Since the plant opened, GreenField has purchased over $1 billion worth of corn from farmers throughout the Ontario corn belt. Canadian BIOMASS 11
Canadian Biomass March-April 2015: Page 11
