SynSel Energy, Inc. of Elmhurst, Ill., is partnering with a U.S.-based financier and local stakeholders across the U.S. to develop a network of 100 biorefineries in shuttered industrial sites. SynSel is a developer, technology integrator, and owner/operator of biorefineries in the U.S.A. and Canada.

The plants will be constructed on a proprietary template, using state-of-the-art, environmentally responsible technology to produce clean second-generation biofuels from abundant wood waste and forest residue.

SynSel has recently announced the locations of the first two plants in the SynSel network as Ontonagon, Mich., and Lumberton, Miss.

“These plants are fully funded, and SynSel is currently securing the project deposit fund required to release pre-construction and construction funds. Both plants are slated to be fully operational by 2020,” said SynSel CEO Tim Tawoda.

Each SynSel biorefinery will employ 100 workers, and an estimated 150 supporting jobs will be created in each surrounding community.

“The Smurfit Stone Paper Mill closed in 2010 and was just one more economic setback for Ontonagon after the copper mine and shipyard closures. The SynSel biorefinery is a huge step in reversing the unemployment trends in Ontonagon and the Upper Peninsula, in general,” said SynSel’s co-developer Pat Tucker, president of Lost Bowl Development, LLC in Ontonagon, Mich.

SynSel Energy and Lost Bowl Development will invest USD300 million on the biorefinery. SynSel chose the Smurfit Stone site for several reasons.

“Ontonagon has the industrial infrastructure in place that we need, and it is right in the back yard of the feed stock that we need for the plant,” said Brian Buckta, SynSel Energy senior vice president, administration. “Ontonagon will be one of the first, if not the first.”