Vertex Energy on track to start producing renewable diesel in Alabama this spring

Vertex Energy Inc. provided an update Jan. 17 on the construction of its renewable diesel conversion project in Mobile, Alabama.

The company said the project, which is designed to convert the existing hydrocracking unit to produce renewable diesel on a standalone basis, remains on schedule, on budget and on track for mechanical completion by late March.

Vertex Energy completed shutdown procedures on the hydrocracker unit Jan. 6 for the next stage of construction activities, as planned.

The unit is scheduled to remain offline for a total of approximately 70 days while the project is finalized, with mechanical completion expected the final week of March.

Once completed, the refinery is expected to begin production of renewable diesel in the second quarter.

Initial volumes are planned to be between 336,000 and 420,000 gallons per day, with production volumes anticipated to subsequently ramp up to approximately 588,000 gallons per day upon installation of additional required infrastructure.

“The project continues to progress on schedule and on budget, with total capital expenditures on the renewable diesel conversion project during the fourth quarter of approximately $33.2 million,” the company stated. “Total capital expenditures spent to date on the renewable diesel project are $72 million, or approximately 76 percent of the total projected budget for the project of $90 million to $100 million.”

Benjamin Cowart, president and CEO of Vertex, stated, “Our progress on the construction of the renewable diesel conversion project continues to track right in-line with our planned timeline and budget, something I am very proud of given the scale and breadth of the project. We continue to expect the unit to be brought back online following the planned 70-day outage in mid-March with full mechanical completion anticipated shortly thereafter.”