Valero joint venture in Louisiana to produce renewable diesel from fat

Valero Energy Corp.’s investments in renewable fuel moved with the completion of a plant that soon will produce renewable diesel fuel from fat.
In a venture known as Diamond Green Diesel LLC, the San Antonio refiner joined 50-50 partner Darling International Inc. of Irving to build the US$413 million plant at Valero’s St. Charles refinery near New Orleans.
At full production, the plant will produce 9,300 barrels a day of renewable diesel from animal fat, cooking oil and corn oil, Darling said in a statement.
The diesel will help Valero and buyers of the fuel meet federal requirements that certain volumes of renewables be blended into transportation fuels.
Valero will market the diesel produced at the plant, which company spokesman Bill Day said will be “a premium product, because unlike other types of biodiesel, it is nearly identical to petroleum-based diesel and can ship by pipeline.”
About US$50 million was shaved from the plant’s cost because it was built on land at Valero’s refinery and will use existing utilities and infrastructure, Day said. In addition, the site is near a rail line and docks.
Diamond Green Diesel is leasing the site from Valero. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
The plant will use a three-stage process to turn fats into fuel using hydrogen and catalysts.
Diamond Green Diesel is one of a number of investments Valero has made in renewable energy ventures. The company owns 10 ethanol plants in the Midwest and a 50-megawatt wind farm at its McKee refinery north of Amarillo.
Darling recycles beef, poultry and pork byproducts into usable ingredients such as feed-grade fats. It also recovers and converts used cooking oil and commercial bakery waste into feed and fuel ingredients. Also, the company collects grease from restaurants.
(June 28, 2013)