Enerkem raises C$59M in latest financing round; Valero Energy joins, Waste Management increases investment
01 June 2011
Waste to biofuels and chemicals company Enerkem announced the closing of C$59 million (US$60 million) in financing. As part of this financing, Valero Energy Corp. joins existing investors Waste Management, Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and Cycle Capital, who have each invested in the new equity round.
Valero has investments in 10 ethanol plants throughout the Midwest; Valero and Enerkem have also agreed to jointly consider commercial opportunities.
With Valero joining Waste Management as a strategic investor, Enerkem becomes one of the very few renewable products companies that is aligned with industry leaders from both upstream and downstream parts of the business.
—Vincent Chornet, president and CEO of Enerkem
Enerkem’s financing round, for which Credit Suisse acted as agent, will support the company’s large roll-out of current and future planned projects. It comes on the heels of US$130 million in financial support from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Energy (DOE) for a plant in Pontotoc, Mississippi, expected to break ground later this year. Construction is already underway on a similar 36 million liter (10 million gallon) per year waste-to-biofuels facility in Edmonton, Alberta, the company’s second commercial facility.
This should be actively supported by cities, municipalities, counties, States and Fed governments. Turning garbage into usable fuels and chemicals is a worthwhile endeavor even if it is not 100% efficient.
Posted by: HarveyD | 01 June 2011 at 07:57 AM
We may be mining landfills in the near future which is good, we certainly have enough of them. Tap the methane and when that runs out mine the heck out of them.
Posted by: SJC | 01 June 2011 at 12:20 PM