GREAT FALLS — In the video above, Tommy Lynch reports on Montana Renewables, which recently received a loan guarantee of up to $1.4B to fund expansion.
“Liquid fuels are very important,” said Bruce Fleming, CEO of Montana Renewables. “They have high energy density. The fact that ours is renewable, it's in demand - it's super exciting."
Montana Renewables is the largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the western hemisphere.
“It’s going to allow us to take a business that we set up over the last couple years and significantly expand it,” Fleming said.
The loan will help fund numerous other projects, including on-site water treatment and recycling capabilities, which is something the Pondera County Commissioners and the Golden Triangle Resource Council hope will be a top priority.
“The handling of this water has been going on for a century,” Fleming said. “There's nothing new here. There's nothing interesting here. There's nothing hazardous here.”
Fleming also expects the expansion to grow Great Falls’ population and economy as well, and enjoys being part of the community.
“I go down to the pizza place that I like. We shop at Albertsons. We fuel our vehicles,” Fleming said, “You know, this is a virtuous cycle; that's good for everybody.”
Fleming expects the loan could end up leading to the creation of hundreds of new jobs - a win-win for the company and Montana as a whole.
(OCTOBER 17, 2024) The U.S. Department of Energy announced this week a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.44 billion to Montana Renewables, LLC (MRL).
MRL is a subsidiary of Calumet, which operates the refinery in Great Falls.
A news release from the U.S. Department of Energy says the project is expected to create, at its peak, 450 construction jobs and up to 40 new operations jobs.
The loan guarantee, if finalized, will help finance the expansion of a renewable fuels facility in Great Falls that will utilize vegetable oils, fats, and greases to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel (RD), and renewable naphtha (RN).
The MRL facility has been in operation since late 2022, currently producing about 140 million gallons per year of biofuels, most of which is renewable diesel.
The loan guarantee would fund facility expansion to produce about 315 million gallons per year of biofuels, most of which will be SAF.
