Ethanol construction to begin at Aurora West plant

Construction crews began arriving on site at Aurora West this week with plans to complete construction of the 113-million gallon ethanol plant by Sept. 1.

The centerpiece of the Aurora West complex has stood idle since November of 2008, but that will soon change in a hurry. A transition team is assessing the need for manpower and equipment this week, with a staff of 200 to 250 scheduled to start working on Monday.

Aventine Renewable Energy emerged from bankruptcy in late February and recently announced plans to finish construction on plants in Aurora and Mt. Vernon, Ill., both of which stand at about 85 percent complete.

Aventine still owns the plant, though a different contractor has been called in to complete the project. The familiar yellow and black pickups owned by Kiewiet Energy will be replaced with the red and white Fagen, Inc., logo.

The plan is to finish construction by Sept. 1, though Fagen said crews will remain on site through mid-October, or as late as early November.

source: auroranewsregister