Columbus biogas plant gets $3M state loan

Source: Business First

A multimillion-dollar biogas facility set for Columbus is one of two projects that clinched a piece of more than $14 million in loans and grants heading to companies across the state through Ohio’s job stimulus package.

The state and its Air Quality Development Authority on Tuesday awarded a $3.06 million, seven-year loan to Cleveland’s Quasar Energy Group, formerly Schmack BioEnergy LLC. The company is working with Kurtz Bros Inc. on a $10 million anaerobic digester facility at the former Columbus trash-burning power plant site off Jackson Pike. The facility would take treated sewage sludge and food waste such as fats, oils and grease and convert them to compressed natural gas to fuel city of Columbus vehicles.
State officials said the Columbus project is expected to create seven full-time jobs and retain 14.
Another of the seven awards announced Tuesday is headed to Westerman Nuclear LLC, which received a $2.04 million, five-year loan for a new manufacturing facility in Bremen, about 40 miles southeast of Columbus. The proposed facility could create 50 jobs, retain 183 and would help supply components to the nuclear industry, the state said.
Most of the projects approved for loans or grants Tuesday are driven by non-coal technology, which is backed with $84 million in financing through the $1.57 billion state stimulus package Gov. Ted Strickland signed last year. The job-creation package set aside $66 million to help finance clean coal projects.
The state said the financing awarded Tuesday requires final approval from the Controlling Board.