South Dakota Soybean Plant to Boost Biofuel Industry
BP-Backed Plant to Process 35 Million Bushels Yearly
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South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden helped open a $500 million soybean crushing plant able to process 35 million soybean bushels yearly in a BP-backed biofuel venture.
“We cut the ribbon on the brand-new High Plains soybean processing facility and were joined by hundreds of South Dakotans who appreciate the importance of value-added agriculture. Ag is king in South Dakota,” Rhoden noted. “South Dakota has a proud reputation of being ‘Open for Opportunity.’ High Plains Processing is proof of that fact, and it is one of the largest projects in our state’s history.”
The facility is a venture between BP Products North America and South Dakota Soybean Processors. Blake Olson, commodities merchandiser at High Plains Processing/SDSP, said the operation provides feedstocks for the biofuel industry.
The recent ribbon-cutting follows last year’s ground-breaking event when SDSP CEO Tom Kersting praised the BP partnership, saying then, “We are excited to have BP, one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, as a strategic partner in this new venture. The investment by BP further strengthens our business plan by providing direct access and vision into the rapidly growing renewable fuels market.”
$500 million investment. 1.2 million man-hours. The largest economic development project in Mitchell’s history.
We cut the ribbon on the brand new High Plains soybean processing facility and were joined by hundreds of South Dakotans who appreciate the importance of value-added… — Governor Larry Rhoden (@GovLarryRhoden)
A BP spokesman noted then the company was “developing high-value, lower-carbon intensity feedstocks for our biofuels business in service of our ambitious plans to grow production to 100,000 barrels a day by 2030. We are delighted to be working together with High Plains Processing in this multiseed crush plant, which will form part of our competitively positioned supply chain.”
The location of the plant in Davison County offered multimodal easy access to South Dakota Highway 37, Interstate 90 (2 miles away) and a BNSF Railway mainline.
The processing plant will use soybeans and sunflower seeds from area farmers transported by trucks and placed in grain storage. Then the beans and sunflower seeds will be crushed and processed. Soybean meal and oils will be separated. Oils then can be stored, refined and shipped by rail or truck.
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Able to process 50,000 bushels per hour, the plant can have 64 double trailers on site. “A single truck is 67 feet long and can hold 970 bushels. A double truck is 100 feet long and can hold 1,550 bushels. It is anticipated that 82% of the trucks will be single trailers and 18% doubles,” noted a Davison County Planning and Zoning presentation on High Plains Processing.
High Plains Processing will be able to store 12.3 million gallons of crude oil and 3.52 million gallons of refined oil.
The average daily traffic of 434 trucks is expected to increase by 9% during normal operations and jump to 12% during peak harvest season. Initially, 127 trucks per day are forecast to be at High Plains Processing. In 2030, traffic is expected to reach 565 trucks per day during peak harvests.
Soybeans are to be sourced from farmers in a 90-mile radius, while sunflower growers will be sought both north and west of Mitchell, where the land is drier.
“Mitchell is well-positioned with access to significant renewable diesel markets in the western U.S.,” according to High Plains Processing’s marketing strategy.
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