IEDA award supports ethanol production at Verbio’s RNG plant

The Iowa Economic Development Authority on March 19 announced it has awarded tax benefits through the High Quality Jobs program to Verbio Nevada to support a project that aims to integrate ethanol production at the renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility.

Verbio Nevada is biorefinery owned by Verbio North America, a subsidiary of Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG, a major German producer of ethanol, biodiesel and RNG.

The facility is located at the site of DuPont’s former 30 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa. Verbio North America purchased the former DuPont facility in late 2018 and began work to retrofit the plant to produce RNG made from corn stover and other crop residues.

In January 2021, Verbio confirmed that its straw-to-biomethane facility under development at the former Dupont site is scheduled to begin operations this fall.  

The company previously indicated it will evaluate options to produce ethanol and other value-added byproducts at the Nevada site in the future. Information posted to Verbio’s website explains that the project site already has infrastructure in place to support ethanol production.

IEDA’s March 19 announcement seems to indicate those plans are now moving forward. According to IEDA, Verbio plans to purchase equipment to integrate ethanol production alongside the RNG production within the existing facility, which reduces the carbon footprint and enhances its position within low carbon fuel standard markets. IEDA said the project represents a $80 million capital investment and is expected to create 48 jobs, including 33 that are incented at a qualifying wage of $27.07.