Darling Ingredients Inc. has announced the expansion of its joint venture plant with Valero Energy Corporation, Diamond Green Diesel, located in Norco, La., U.S.A. The expansion will grow the facility’s annual production capacity of renewable diesel by 72%, from 160 million gallons to 275 million gallons.

The planned expansion will also include expanded outbound logistics for servicing the many developing low carbon fuel markets around North America and the globe.

Completion of the expansion is expected by the fourth quarter of 2017, with production to ramp up in the first quarter of 2018. Diamond Green Diesel expects to operate at full capacity throughout the expansion phase, excluding an estimated 15-to-30 day downtime.

The incremental cost per gallon of renewable diesel production for the expansion is estimated to be approximately one-half of the greenfield construction cost due to significant logistics and processing facilities already in place.

This expansion plan is expected to be funded by Diamond Green Diesel’s cash flow and is subject to final engineering and cost analysis.

“Our Diamond Green Diesel joint venture continues to be a shining star in our portfolio of ingredients and our DGD team has successfully proven the technology works, producing the highest quality product to meet the expectations of our customers,” said Randall C. Stuewe, Darling Ingredients Inc. chairman and CEO.

Darling Ingredients Inc., based in Irving, Texas, U.S.A., is the world’s largest publicly-traded developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients, creating a wide range of ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, petfood, feed, technical, fuel, bioenergy and fertilizer industries. With operations on five continents, the company collects and transforms all aspects of animal by-product streams into useable and specialty ingredients, such as gelatin, edible fats, feed-grade fats, animal proteins and meals, plasma, pet food ingredients, organic fertilizers, yellow grease, fuel feedstocks, green energy, natural casings and hides.