REG shuts Louisiana biorefinery after recent fire

Renewable Energy Group says it will take between two and four months to restore operations after a fire on April 2 at its biorefinery in Geismar, Louisiana.

"Our highest concern is the continuing recovery of the two employees who were injured last Thursday," the company said in a statement. "We also appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our customers, vendors and service providers during this time.

Two workers were injured in the accident.

While preliminary damage assessments are still ongoing, the damage appears to be contained to a limited area of the production facility, according to REG officials.

REG also says it plans to incorporate a one-month maintenance shutdown that was previously scheduled for this summer to bring filtration and other upgrades online during the restoration time period.

The company expects that it will be able to resume load-out operations for renewable hydrocarbon diesel in inventory later this week.

The Geismar plant has a capacity of 75 million gal/year (284m liters/year). 

The plant, which started operations in November, is REG's first to produce renewable diesel using the company's Bio-Synfining technology, which uses vegetable oils and animal fats as feedstock.