Region Nine, Minnesota
The Region Nine, Minnesota BDO Zone for Corn Stover is rated ‘A’.
Rating Issue Date: January 9, 2024.
'A' ratings denote high prospective viability of Feedstock Supply and Infrastructure and low expectations of default risk in the Zone. Capacity to support new biobased plant operations is considered strong.
Region Nine, MN holds an investment-grade BDO Zone ‘A’ Rating for Corn stover. Issued in Jan 2024, the rating certifies approximately 2,800,000 gt/yr of reliable, low-risk biomass feedstock available within a 75-mile driving distance from the center point (St. James, MN).
A ‘A’ rating is an investment grade rating, signalling a reliable, low-risk feedstock supply. It signals to developers, lenders, and investors that Region Nine, MN’s feedstock supply has undergone rigorous, standardized due diligence across 100+ risk indicators, the same framework applied to every BDO Zone across North America.
Every BDO Zone Rating assesses a region across three dimensions, mapped as expanding radii around a candidate site.
- Feedstock surplus: Data indicating at least 50,000 tonnes per year of excess feedstock available to support typical intake of new biofuels manufacturing plants.
- Supply chain strength: Evidence supporting long-term commitment to supply both quantity and quality by local farmers, forestry companies, food waste generators, haulers and municipalities.
- Sound infrastructure: Suitable transportation, logistic, operating and supporting infrastructure to meet the requirements for new facility operations.
Assets & liabilities
- Over 1,400,000 bone dry tons of underutilized corn stover at low risk.
- One of the highest yielding corn producing areas in the country.
- No established competition for corn stover in the region.
- Redundancy of potential suppliers given the number of corn producers.
- Sound road infrastructure in proximity with major metropolitan areas and utilities available on site.
- Producers have limited experience in harvesting and collecting corn stover efficiently in terms of cost and time.
- There is no established supply chain infrastructure to support a commercial scale operation.
- The corn stover harvesting season is shorter due to weather, compared to other major corn-producing regions in the country.
- Challenges with attraction and retention of skilled labor needed for field operations and logistics, both from a lack of experience in this activity and increasing cost of living.
Infrastructure & sites
- It's strategic positioning offers easy access to major highways, notably State Highway 15 and U.S. Highway 14 is roughly 29 miles away from the center point St. James.
- With competitive land pricing, New Ulm is particularly attractive for businesses and the New Ulm Industrial Lot near the airport, within the municipal limits, with 4.23 acres of heavy industrial designated land has been chosen as the primary industrial site for infrastructure risk scoring.
- Mankato has the Northport Industrial Park (38 miles from St. James) with qualified I-2 and I-1 zoned industrial lots available for development, located adjacent to Highway 14 and County State Highway 41.
- The New Ulm Industrial lot is privately owned and is available for immediate commercial development.
- Major manufacturing and production facilities are located near/within the Airport Industrial Park.
- The Northport Industrial Park is owned and operated by the North Mankato Port Authority Commission, with nearby land consisting mainly of privately owned land.
Contacts
