Biofuels Producer Plans Expansion On Illinois River

Alto Ingredients, located on the Illinois River in Pekin, Ill., south of Peoria, is a global producer of bio-based alcohols. It is looking to improve the flow of products from its campus to the river with a $16 million capacity expansion.

“It will relieve significant constraints where we’re using trucks to move product,” said Todd Benton, chief coperating officer of Alto Ingredients. “It’ll allow us to have additional storage for staging and preparation for putting product on the river. It will allow us to open it up for third parties to bring product in and transfer that to the river as well.”

Benton said the expansion would reduce reliance on truck transportion while increasing barge traffic.

The project is called the Heart of Illinois Port District Agricultural Export Facility Efficiency Project. Alto Ingredients, the port district and the City of Pekin are working together to fund it. Alto ships its products downriver to the Gulf of America for export.

The Heart of Illinois Port District is applying for an $11 million federal grant, while the City of Pekin requested $1 million from the state. Alto Ingredients would cover around $4 million.

The company could learn whether it receives the federal grant by the end of the year. If approved, the project could be completed around 2029. The Greater Peoria Economic Development Council touted the project as “big news for Greater Peoria’s agricultural economy.”