Suncor halts ethanol expansion project.
Announcement is the latest casualty of the economic downturn
Suncor announced Friday it was halting work on a project to double the size of its St. Clair Ethanol Plant. Company spokesperson Jason Vaillant said “cash flow concerns” promoted the firm to put the $120 million job on hold for 12 month. “We’ll resume construction in early 2010, with an expected completion date in the first quarter of 2011,” he said. “We’re stressing this is a deferral, not a cancellation.”
Vaillant said a project team of about 25 people has been working on the job, along with about 50 tradesmen.
Once completed, the expansion is expected to bring the facility’s production up to 40 million litres per year and create about two dozen permanent
jobs.
Ethanol is a fuel additive made by distilling corn or other organic matter. It is blended with conventional gasoline and results in cleaner fuel combustion and fewer emissions.
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