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Indianapolis-based Calumet Inc., formerly known as Calumet Specialty Products Partners, has received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.44 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The funding, announced this week, will support the expansion of a renewable fuels facility in Great Falls, Montana—owned by subsidiary Montana Renewables—that will produce sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF.
Calumet said the expansion would grow Montana Renewables’ production capacity to about 300 million gallons of SAF and 330 million gallons of combined SAF and renewable diesel.
The facility has been in operation since late 2022 and currently produces about 140 million gallons of biofuels annually.
Montana Renewables is the largest SAF producer in North America. The expanded plant will use vegetable oils, fats, and greases to produce SAF, renewable diesel and renewable naphtha.
“Our planned expansion is fully aligned with strategic national interest in low-emission sustainable alternatives,” Montana Renewables CEO Bruce Fleming said in a news release. “The expansion will directly replace fossil jet and diesel; reduce [our] carbon footprint by producing more renewable hydrogen and electricity; and contribute to regional economic development.”
Montana Renewables plans to execute the expansion through a series of individual projects, including adding a second renewable fuels reactor, which would allow half of the 300 million gallon SAF capability to be online by 2026.
The company also plans to install new SAF blending and logistics assets, increase renewable hydrogen production, and add on-site water treatment and recycling capabilities, among other enhancements.
The expansion is expected to create about 450 construction jobs and 40 permanent operations jobs at the facility.
The conditional commitment for the loan guarantee will come in two phases, Calumet said. The first will provide $778 million by the fourth quarter of this year, with the balance to be disbursed between the beginning of construction in 2025 and the project’s expected completion in 2028.
The company said certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions must be satisfied before the loan guarantee is officially funded.
“This investment will allow us to leverage our first-mover advantage and unique renewable hydrogen and pretreatment technologies to transform Montana Renewables into a world scale SAF producer,” Calumet CEO Todd Borgmann said. “Through this conditional commitment, the U.S. is leading the world in renewable aviation, the hardest to abate sector in transportation, while demonstrating our country’s innovation and technical leadership.”
Calumet launched Montana Renewables in 2021 with the goal of becoming one of the top renewable diesel producers in North America.
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