Officials inaugurate Reno renewable diesel plant as start-up nears

The hydrotreater at New Rise Renewables Reno in Storey County, Nevada (Photo: Greater Commercial Lending)

Federal, state and local officials were on site Aug. 10 at Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Storey County, Nevada, to inaugurate the New Rise Renewables Reno renewable diesel facility.

The primary plant has been completed, and a pretreatment and energy-recovery system, designed to increase output and operational efficiency, will be fully operational in early 2023.

A spokesperson for the project told Biobased Diesel Daily that the plant is expected to begin producing renewable diesel in January.

The facility is scaled to produce 44 million gallons per year.

Phillips 66 is under contract to supply all of the feedstock for New Rise Renewables Reno and will purchase 100 percent of the renewable diesel product for use and sale nearby in California, according to New Rise Renewables Reno, which is owned by Nevada-based RESC Renewables Holdings.

“New Rise Renewables and its proven technology represent the future,” said Jeremy Gilpin, executive vice president of Reno-based Greater Commercial Lending, which facilitated $112.6 million in government-guaranteed credit for the plant’s development. “Renewable diesel is emerging as the renewable fuel of choice as the world begins to move away from fossil fuels. ... GCL is proud to have helped assemble the loan package that made New Rise Renewables Reno possible. ... A notable fact about the facility is that once it is in full operation, it will require minimal external energy. It will use its own internal energy recovery system to power the production of renewable diesel."

Eighty percent of the GCL-arranged financing for New Rise Renewables Reno is guaranteed by the USDA via its 9003 Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biodiesel Production Manufacturing Assistance Program.

The financing structure includes participation by GCL parent Greater Nevada Credit Union, other credit unions, insurance companies and secondary-market groups.

“The USDA-guaranteed financing was what enabled the project,” said Randy Soule, leader of the New Rise Renewables Reno facility. “The favorable, flexible terms of the government-guaranteed loan package were essential. With flexible financing, the financials may not have worked out, and our team wouldn’t have been able to maintain complete oversight and control.”

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, added, “Businesses like New Rise Renewables are proof of what’s possible with government-guaranteed loans, and when we all come together at a federal, state, and local level to foster innovation and growth. I’m proud to see this facility come online, and I’ll keep working to support our clean-energy economy throughout Nevada.”

Once fully operational, the facility is projected to save nearly 880 million pounds of carbon emissions, the equivalent of removing 88,000 vehicles from the roads.