Advanced Bioenergy mothballs one of first US ethanol plants

Advance Bioenergy, a Minnesota, US-based biofuel producer, has shut down its South Dakota ethanol plant due to the facility falling behind in technological development.

The plant, located in the city of Aberdeen, was one of the first ethanol plants in the US when it began production in the early 1990s under the name of Heartland Grain Fuels.

But the plant was closed last week due it having become too expensive to run due to its outdated technology.

"It's an old asset that has lived its day. It's time to put her out to pasture," Advanced Bioenergy CEO Rich Peterson told the American News.

He said the company either needed to invest a lot of money in the plant or close it, and the plant's output wasn't worth the investment.

"A plant that size should have been shut down two years ago. Financially it's like running a business and agreeing to burn money every month," Peterson said.

Advanced Bioenergy will continue to operate a larger plant that opened in Aberdeen in 2008 with the production capacity of 48.5 million gallons annually, compared with 8.5 million gallons at the smaller plant.

According to Peterson, the smaller plant’s closure will have no effect on the company’s customers, but “a handful” of employees will lose their jobs.