Long-awaited CE+P project gets a name and a builder
BRAWLEY – An Imperial Valley renewable energy project that has been years in the making may finally break ground by early next year, according to its founder.
California Ethanol + Power president and CEO David Rubenstein said Tuesday he expected to have the $950 million in financing needed for the project by late August, and he estimated groundbreaking could take later this year or early next.
The county Board of Supervisors originally approved Rubenstein’s biofuel plant, which would produce ethanol from sugarcane, in September 2013.
A year ago, the board, by a 3-2 vote, granted Rubenstein an extension on a $625,000 loan it awarded him from public benefit funding in 2015. At that time, he estimated it would take $900 million to complete the project.
Even now, the money is not in the bank, but Rubenstein did announce three new developments on Tuesday.
One, he’s given the project a name. Sugar Valley Energy would be built on 160 acres within the 5,000-acre Keystone Industrial Complex near Brawley. The plant would have the capacity to produce up to 66 million gallon of fuel-grade ethanol yearly.
That fuel would be processed from up to 50,000 acres of sugarcane secured through long-term agreements with local farmers.
Sugar Valley would use the molasses created as a byproduct from the process to produce up to 740 million cubic feet of bio-methane gas per year and use the juiced sugarcane feedstock to generate up to 49 megawatts of electricity.
The site will also have a wastewater treatment plant capable of processing all wastewater from the property’s facilities, as well as 1 million gallons more from nearby businesses and homes.
Another development Rubenstein announced Tuesday is that he has enlisted a contractor for the project.
He said CE+P and developer MasTec Power Corp. had reached a target price agreement of $610 million to build the energy campus. A target price contract, as the name suggests, involves parties agreeing upon an expected price. If the project comes in under budget, the parties typically split the savings. If it comes in over budget, they share the additional costs.
“Partnering with MPC is a major milestone for this project,” Rubenstein said. “We are proud to have a world-class energy facility developer behind Sugar Valley Energy. MPC’s expertise will enhance our ability to build the first low-carbon energy facility using sugarcane in the country.”
Rubenstein said
MPC is now moving forward with a limited notice-to-proceed and will be working on the detailed engineering and costs for the project.
Once ground breaks, Rubenstein said he expects the plant to be in operation in 2023.
“MPC is eager to participate in this project, as CE+P leads the way of providing low-carbon energy to California,” MPC Executive Vice President Michael DonMoyer said in a release. “As the project proceeds, we look forward to partnering with CE+P to help provide renewable and sustainable energy, along with boosting jobs and economic activity in Imperial County and the state of California.”
Rubinstein’s third announcement Tuesday was the recent completion of an economic impact analysis for the project.
The report, which was prepared by Circle Analytics Inc., outlined both the one-time benefits and the ongoing economic impacts of the project. The report estimated that the development and construction phases, plus one year of operations, will have the following economic impacts for the county:
• The project will benefit 15,122 total jobs. These would include both full- and part-time jobs, with an average $37,423 per job benefited, including those associated with pre-development, construction, agriculture and facility operations.
• There would be a gross economic output (total economic impact) of $1.73 billion.
• Local impact within Imperial County (gross county product) would be $928.2 million.
• Total labor income (wage-paying dollars) would be $565.9 million.
• Capital income (non-labor benefits) are projected at $294.3 million.
• Approximately $68 million would be generated in indirect business taxes and fees.
“We believe Sugar Valley Energy will not only represent a better power source, but it will be a source for a better life for many in the Imperial Valley,” Rubenstein said.