Blue Flint Ethanol is located adjacent to Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station. |
Other services and business ventures Part of Great River Energy’s success stems from our ability to provide a variety of services to our member cooperatives and other customers. We are also able to leverage our key assets and add value for our member cooperatives. |
Great River Energy is a member-owner of ACES, a nationwide energy management company. ACES transacts several billion dollars annually on behalf of its clients, who operate in nearly every wholesale electric market region of the US and have a collective portfolio of approximately 47,000 MW of both load and resources.
Providing services “as agent,” ACES represents its clients in the marketplace, working to manage energy risk. Because ACES does not buy or sell energy on its own behalf, it avoids conflicts of interest and ensures consistent and complete alignment with the best interests of the organizations it serves. ACES operates a North Regional Trading Center in Maple Grove, Minn.
Blue Flint Ethanol is a wholly-owned independent subsidiary of Great River Energy. The 65-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant is located near Underwood, N.D., adjacent to Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station. Production at the facility began in February of 2007.
Blue Flint Ethanol is unique in that it utilizes waste heat generated by the Coal Creek Station, creating a highly energy efficient operation. The project was recognized by North Dakota Governor John Hoeven as the state’s 2006 "Project of the Year".
Engineering servicesGreat River Energy provides engineering and technical services to cooperative and municipal customers through our full-service distribution engineering consulting and technical services firm, United Services Group (USG).
Fly ash is the lightweight, fine ash produced when coal is burned in power plants. As the fly ash moves through the power plants’ exhaust system, electrostatic precipitators collect the particles before they can be released into the air via the chimneys. The primary use for fly ash is as a portland cement replacement, but it’s also being used in scores of household products, including mortar, stucco, carpets, paint, shingles, floor, ceiling tiles and even some cosmetics. We even used our fly ash to build our Maple Grove, Minnesota headquarters facility.
Fly ash from Coal Creek Station is sold by our marketing partner, Headwaters Resources. Headwaters is the nation’s largest manager and marker of coal fly ash. The sale of the fly ash saves Great River Energy more than $1 million in landfill costs each year and generates more than $1.5 million in revenue. It also helps protect the environment by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the air during concrete production.
