Seaboard Energy building 85 mgy renewable diesel plant in Hugoton, Kansas

Seaboard is building a pretreatment unit, hydrogen plant and renewable diesel refinery in Hugoton, Kansas. (Photo: Seaboard Energy)

Seaboard Energy, a division of Seaboard Foods and a wholly owned subsidiary of Seaboard Corp., announced it is building a renewable diesel plant in Hugoton, Kansas. The facility, scaled to produce 85 million gallons per year (mgy) of renewable diesel, is constructed at the former Abengoa ethanol plant site that was purchased in February 2019. Since that time, Seaboard Energy has recommissioned portions of the idle assets while simultaneously building the greenfield renewable diesel production facilities.

Seaboard Energy President and CEO Gary Louis thanked the local community for welcoming Seaboard Energy’s renewable diesel project.

“We could not have asked for any better cooperation with the local community leaders,” Louis said. “I am thrilled that Seaboard Energy can continue to further develop our business footprint in this area where we first started doing business over 26 years ago.”

On the 800-acre site, Seaboard Energy is developing a greenfield fat and oil pretreatment unit, hydrogen plant and renewable diesel refinery. The site is also being used to blend and ship biodiesel from Seaboard Energy’s two biodiesel plants in Guymon, Oklahoma, and St. Joseph, Missouri, whose combined production capacity totals 75 mgy.

“The facility location provides Seaboard Energy a strategic geographic advantage to capitalize on the integrated supply of inputs from area feedstock producers, Seaboard Foods’ processing plant and Seaboard Foods’ farms,” Louis added. The target completion date for the project is the end of this year. In addition to being able to manufacture 85 mgy of renewable diesel, the facility will also have the capacity to produce 8.5 million gallons of renewable naphtha. The fuels will be primarily derived from local animal fats and vegetable oils.

Fagen Inc. is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project. Fagen has been collaborating with Ford, Bacon & Davis, LLC; Crown Iron Works, Chemex Modular and ENGlobal on the execution of facility’s expansion. Multiple area contractors have also assisted with the construction of the facility.

Bill Patrick, Seaboard Energy vice president of operations, also announced new local leadership.

“Seaboard Energy is pleased to introduce William Newton as plant manager for the new Hugoton project,” Patrick said. “William brings 30 years of refining experience to the Seaboard Energy team already on site.”

Seaboard Energy plans to provide more than 60 jobs and has filled the 300 to 400 construction jobs with as many local residents as possible. These jobs provide employees with benefits, including affordable insurance plans, retirement savings plans and paid time off. They also plan to partner with area schools that have applicable technical programs, which could be tailored to provide students with the skills needed to work at Seaboard Energy or other technical companies after graduation. In addition to employment opportunities, Seaboard has committed to a $2.2 million project with Pioneer Electric to upgrade existing electrical power lines. This incremental capacity will ultimately benefit Hugoton area homes and businesses.