Ames, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group Inc. hopes to have its Geismar biorefinery back online by the end of January following a fire at the plant last month that hospitalized four workers.
“Our first priority at Geismar remains the recovery of our employee and the three contractors who were injured. Our thoughts and prayers remain with them and their families,” says REG President and CEO Daniel Oh in a revised earnings estimate for the third quarter, released today. “The structural damage from the September fire was far less than the April incident. We continue to have great confidence in the technology and facility. Our current estimate is that our team will have the plant back online by the end of January.”
The overnight fire at the plant on Sept. 3 followed an April 2 fire in which two workers were injured.
REG acquired the biorefinery last June, and it became operational again in October after having been idled by a previous owner in fall 2012. The company produces a biofuel called REG-9000/RHD at the plant and sells it commercially. The plant has the capacity to make upward of 75 million gallons of renewable diesel each year from animal and waste fat. The Geismar plant is one of 10 biorefineries across the country owned by REG.
In the revised earnings estimate released today, REG says it expects to report a net loss of between $9 million and $15 million for the third quarter.
