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ENERGY: Innisfail chosen as site of giant bioenergy refinery

        (AlbertaIndex, April 23) --- Riverstone Holdings, The Carlyle Group and Dominion Energy Services LLC have jointly announced that they have chosen the town of Innisfail, Alberta as the site for their investment in a huge biofuels refinery. The project comprises a 100-million gallon ethanol plant, a 100-million gallon canola crush facility and a 100-million gallon biodiesel facility.

        Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I, L.P. (CRREIF) will own a controlling interest in the C$400 million facility, with management owning the balance.
       
The plants will employ 90 full-time people and create an additional 200 indirect jobs. The project’s construction will create around 400 jobs.
        Upon completion, the refinery will significantly increase Canada’s bio fuel output and place Alberta at the forefront of the renewable fuels industry in the country.
        Ethanol is a renewable, clean-burning fuel that contains a high percentage (35%) of oxygen that encourages a more complete combustion of vehicle fuel thereby reducing harmful emissions.
        Canola oil is derived from canola seed and is a trademarked hybrid of rapeseed, which was initially bred in Canada.
Biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning fuel comprising mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats and when blended with regular diesel fuel, reduces harmful emissions.
        “The rail access, close proximity to large quantities of feedstock and a skilled local workforce made Innisfail, located a few miles south of Red Deer, Alberta, an ideal location for our newest venture with Dominion Energy. Biofuels are taking an increasing role in helping North America to reduce our dependence on fossil and foreign fuels,” said Stephen Schaefer, managing director of Riverstone.
        “We are well under way with project development and environmental approvals,” said Curtis Chandler, President of Dominion Energy. “The Albertan government has been proactive with us in helping to make our goal of building the largest facility of its type in North America an Albertan reality. We have had excellent co-operation from all municipal, county and provincial bodies thus far and expect to break ground this summer, with commercial production starting in fall of 2008.”
        “We are very excited that Dominion and Riverstone have chosen Innisfail as the location for their ethanol/biodiesel facility. The direct and indirect employment the plants will bring in both the agricultural and industrial sectors to our community are significant opportunities for Red Deer County and our town,” said Innisfail mayor Ken Graham.
        Riverstone Holdings LLC and The Carlyle Group are the co-general partners of Carlyle/Riverstone Global Energy and Power Funds. Riverstone, a New York-based energy and power focused private equity firm founded in 2000, has $8.1 billion under management. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the midstream, upstream, power, oilfield service, and renewable sectors of the energy industry.
        To date, the firm has committed $5.5 billion to 36 investments across each of these five sectors, controlling nearly $40 billion of assets including Collingwood Ethanol LP, a 15 million gallon ethanol facility currently in contruction, and the purchase of Encana’s Alberta storage assets in March of 2006, which comprises 125 BCF of underground natural gas storage capacity.
        The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $56 billion under management. Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture and growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in North America, Europe and Asia. Since 1987, the firm has invested $26.4 billion of equity in 601 transactions.


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