Government funding for ethanol development arrived in Unity, Sask., last week.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz scheduled a stop at North West Bio Energy Ltd., which is under construction to provide $5 million in loans toward the $38 million ethanol plant.
The plant is an outgrowth of the farmer-owned Northwest Terminal Ltd. grain terminal.
The ethanol plant has 317 local investors who contributed $12 million toward the project.
“The community has shown it is behind this facility and so is the government,” said Ritz.
The 25.25 million litre plant is the first in Canada to receive funding under the new eco Agriculture Biofuel Capital Initiative program.
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The fund will deliver $200 million through repayable loans over the four year life of the program to build or expand farmer-invested biofuel facilities.
The project also requires that agriculture-derived feedstocks be used to create the fuel.
Ritz said 95 percent of the 68,000 tonnes of cereal grain that enter the Unity facility will come from local producers, many of them investors in the distillery.
Jim Skinner, president of Northwest Terminal, the parent of the new ethanol plant, said the efficiency of having the large grain terminal on site with the distillery is significant.
“Government support for our initiative is important. Community support is critical. We’re adding value to agriculture at home, making jobs and supporting our community,” said Skinner.
