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Dakota Gas announces plans to evaluate urea plant in Beulah

Urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogen fertilizers, but costs less to handle, store and transport than other nitrogen-based fertilizers.

Dakota Gasification Company - October 11, 2012

Bismarck, N.D. – Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas) announces plans to enter into a Front-End Engineering and Design study for a urea production plant at its Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D. Urea, a granular fertilizer commonly used in agricultural applications, would mark the ninth co-product for the Synfuels Plant – the only plant of its kind in North America. Based on a successful FEED study, the urea plant will be complete by late 2015 or early 2016 and will produce 1,100 tons of urea per day. Dakota Gas is a subsidiary of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck.

“We are proud to build on our fertilizer products, bringing more benefit to this nation’s agricultural customers,” says Andrew M. Serri, Dakota Gasification Company president and chief executive officer. The urea plant will join anhydrous ammonia and ammonium sulfate (Dak Sul 45) as a family of fertilizers produced and marketed by Dakota Gas.

Serri says urea production requires anhydrous ammonia (made from natural gas) and carbon dioxide, all of which are manufactured in the plant’s process. He said urea has the highest nitrogen content of all solid nitrogen fertilizers, but costs less to handle, store and transport than other nitrogen-based fertilizers.

“For the past nine months, Basin Electric has been engaged in strategic planning efforts surrounding critical issues facing the cooperative and Dakota Gas,” Serri says. “We’ve been evaluating a number of products and processes designed to bring value to rural America. We are excited about this next step. This is a continuation of commitment to our farming communities, and we are pleased we can expand our fertilizer production to meet the ever-growing demand.”

Dakota Gas is also in the process of adding a new 30,000-ton ammonia storage facility to increase availability of anhydrous ammonia. The expanded storage should be complete and in service by spring of 2013.

“Basin Electric and Dakota Gasification Company have a rich history rooted in rural America,” Serri says. “Dakota Gas continues to evolve as a model of human ingenuity and energy security. It’s a story of boldness and calculated risk that has paid off for rural America. I think the next chapter will be just as good.”

About Dakota Gasification Company and Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Headquartered in Bismarck, Dakota Gasification Company owns and operates the Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D. The plant produces pipeline-quality natural gas and related co-products from a coal gasification process. Average daily production of natural gas is about 153 million cubic feet, the majority of which is piped to Ventura, Iowa, for distribution in the eastern United States.

The $2.1-billion plant began operating in 1984. Using Lurgi gasifiers, the Synfuels Plant gasifies lignite coal to produce valuable gases and liquids. Additionally, the Synfuels Plant supplies carbon dioxide to the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project in the world in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dakota Gas currently captures between 2.5 and 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. About $477 million has been invested in the Synfuels Plant since 1988 to achieve environmental compliance, improve efficiency, and invest in new byproduct development.