Morton County Approves 240 Million-Gallon Ethanol Facility
RoughRider Energy LLC is moving forward with plans to construct a 240 million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol facility in southwestern North Dakota, aiming for commercial operations by 2029, as reported by bioenergytimes.com.
The project sits on a 718-acre site near Glen Ullin in Morton County. To clear the way for construction, developers overcame local zoning hurdles. The Morton County Planning and Zoning Commission approved an agricultural-to-industrial reclassification in September, followed by formal green-lighting from the Morton County Commission in October.
Scale Drives Local Corn Intake and Coproduct Output
Records provided to county officials show that the site’s layout will encompass fire protection systems, stormwater management, rail and road links, process utilities, coproduct management systems, ethanol processing units, and grain receiving and storage gear. Administrative and maintenance buildings round out the physical layout, alongside integrated carbon dioxide capture and compression equipment.
Scale defines the operation’s raw material intake and output targets. The plant expects to chew through roughly 84 million bushels of locally and regionally sourced corn annually. At full capacity, that volume translates into approximately 240 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol, 660,000 tonnes of distillers dried grains with solubles, and 95 million pounds of corn oil each year.
Carbon Capture Links Plant to Mercer County Storage Site
Carbon management forms a core pillar of the infrastructure plan. Carbon dioxide generated during fermentation will be captured and compressed on-site before moving through a proposed pipeline built by RoughRider Carbon Transport LLC. That pipeline is slated to link the Glen Ullin facility with an underground geological storage site developed by Summit Carbon Storage #1 LLC in Mercer County, roughly 15 miles north of the plant.
Summit Leadership Tied to Corporate Filings and Regional Growth
Corporate filings tie the venture directly to major figures in the agricultural infrastructure space. Summit Carbon Solutions executive vice president Wade Boeshans is listed as the president of RoughRider Energy LLC in paperwork submitted to the county. Meanwhile, US Securities and Exchange Commission records show that Summit Agricultural Group founder Bruce Rastetter serves as an executive officer for RoughRider Energy Holdings LLC.
The Glen Ullin project joins a broader wave of expansion across the region’s biofuels sector. bioenergytimes.com noted that Gevo has also proposed a 75 million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol facility adjacent to its existing plant in Richardton, situated roughly 30 miles west of Glen Ullin.
