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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Calumet Inc. said Tuesday it had drawn down the first $782 million of a $1.44 billion loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Montana Renewables, which makes jet fuel and diesel out of plant oils, beef tallow and other waste fats, signed the loan deal on Jan. 10 as part of a flurry of nearly $50 billion in loans the Energy Department closed in the last two months of former President Joe Biden’s term.
But like other Energy Department loan recipients—which borrowed money to fund everything from solar panel factories to lithium mines—Montana Renewables saw its loan frozen after President Donald Trump took office and vowed to cut back clean energy projects.
A few weeks later, Montana Renewables became the first company to get its Energy Department loan approved by the Trump administration.
The company—which Calumet launched in 2021 with the goal of becoming one of the top renewable diesel producers in North America—said the money will fund the construction and expansion of a renewable fuels facility.
Montana Renewables said the expansion will enable it to increase its annual production capacity to approximately 300 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, and 330 million gallons of combined SAF and renewable diesel.
Montana Renewables CEO Bruce Fleming said the Department of Energy’s mission includes technology and domestic energy security. The company’s project “delivers both,” he said.
“Over the past three years DOE’s Loan Program Office conducted a rigorous due diligence process supported by experts in technology, markets, law, underwriting and risk, and [the project] qualified on the merits. The incoming administration took time to verify this and we appreciate the office’s thoroughness.”
Calumet CEO Todd Borgmann said the Montana Renewables expansion will make it one of the largest producers of sustainable aviation fuel in the world.
The expansion is expected to create about 450 construction jobs and 40 permanent operations jobs at the facility.
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