An Indiana ethanol plant in Putnam County that was shut down four years ago is now back up and running once again.
‘This is a big deal for Indiana, it’s a big deal for POET, and it’s a big deal for the country. It shows that we’re moving forward,” says Doug Berven, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for POET. The company’s bioprocessing facility in Cloverdale, about seven miles south of Greencastle, held a “Grand Opening” ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 31 as the plant plans to be fully functional once again on Monday, Sept. 11.
“That’s when we’re actually producing ethanol,” according to Berven. “We’ll be purchasing grain before that. We’ll actually start grinding corn on Sept. 5, so we’re going to be taking in a lot of corn.”
POET Bioprocessing – Cloverdale was acquired by POET in 2010 but was idled in 2019 due to issues surrounding the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Since then, better federal management of the RFS and strong support for E15 (a 15% bioethanol blend) at the state level from key Indiana lawmakers, including Gov. Eric Holcomb, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, and Congressman Jim Baird (R-IN-04), have played a significant role in POET’s decision to reopen the Cloverdale facility.
Left to right: Erin Branick – POET Media Specialist, and Doug Berven – Vice President of Corporate Affairs with POET. Photo: C.J. Miller / Hoosier Ag Today.
Berven says POET has invested a significant amount of money to bring the Cloverdale facility back up and running.
“We invested about $30 million to bring that plant from an 80-million-gallon facility to a 95-million-gallon facility,” says Berven. “We’ll also employ 50 full-time folks there and will generate demand for about 34 million bushels of corn each year. On average, the POET facilities contribute about $200 million to the local economy annually—each plant does that—so, it’s just a win-win for everybody.”
The POET Bioprocessing facility in Cloverdale is now the company’s fifth ethanol facility in Indiana—with the other four locations in Shelbyville, Alexandria, Portland, and North Manchester.
“[The ethanol industry] currently provides 10 percent of the nation’s fuel supply, but we want to go to 15 percent,” said Berven. “We can do that with excess capacity that we have today. Part of the reason we’ve brought Cloverdale back on is we’re increasing the blend rate of bioethanol in the fuel supply. That’s going to lower the price at the pump and that’s going to offer more markets for farmers all over the country, and frankly, all around the world.”
Click below to hear C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.
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