Fulcrum's proposed Centerpoint plant in Gary's Buffington Harbor

Fulcrum BioEnergy assets set for auction by bankruptcy court

Contributed By: The 411 News

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has set November 7th as the auction date for the assets of Fulcrum BioEnergy, the waste-to-energy company that planned to build a facility in Gary’s Buffington Harbor.

In 2023, Fulcrum received permission from Indiana to begin construction on the Gary plant that promised to turn household garbage into jet fuel, but mounting technical problems at the company’s plant in Reno, Nevada and failures in making payments to lenders cascaded.

The Sierra BioFuels plant in Reno was the model for the much larger plant intended for Gary. Fulcrum ceased operations at the Reno plant in May. The company filed bankruptcy on September 11.

Fulcrum did not own the land for the Gary plant.

Terms of the auction include a low bidder who will set the starting price for the November 7 competitive bidding.

According to ethanolproducer.com, “An initial marketing process initiated earlier this year identified 36 potential purchasers for the Sierra BioFuels plant. Of those 36 parties, six submitted non-binding letters of intent (LOI), three of which were liquidation offers. The LOI from Switch LTD was the highest value contemplated for the purchase of Fulcrum’s assets, ultimately resulting in a stalking horse bid of $15 million. That bid will set the floor for an upcoming competitive bidding process.”

Switch LTD will take control of Fulcrum’s assets if a higher bid is not presented. Switch, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, develops and operates data center facilities.

The assets to be auctioned include the 19.4 acre Sierra BioFuels plant and a 10-acre feedstock processing plant, both on the outskirts of Reno. The auction also includes rights to a distribution agreement with NV Energy and rights to a water supply agreement.

The bid deadline is November 4th at 5pm.

Story Posted:10/24/2024