Diamond Green Diesel a step closer to constructing renewable diesel plant in Texas

Diamond Green Diesel, the renewable diesel joint venture between Darling Ingredients and Valero, has received an air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a new 400 MMgy production facility in Port Arthur, Texas, bringing the new renewable diesel plant known as DGD III one step closer to construction.

Photo: Darling Ingredients Inc.

Once its major expansion in Norco, Louisiana, is complete next year, which would bring that plant's annual production capacity of renewable diesel to 675 MMgy, and if the Texas plant is built, together these would put Diamond Green Diesel's renewable diesel production capacity at 1.1 billion gallons.

"Our timeline to construct an additional 400 million gallons of renewable diesel production in Port Arthur, Texas, is on schedule," said Randall C. Stuewe, chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients. "DGD is in the process of finalizing Phase III engineering plans and cost estimates to build another state of the art facility. We anticipate that both joint venture partners' board of directors will be in a position to approve moving forward with the project in early 2021. As we meet this investment decision timeframe, we believe that DGD III would be operational in 2024."

DGD continues to work through its gated project development process and a final investment decision is expected to be reached in early 2021.

"Darling's vertically integrated supply chain provides DGD with superior low-cost feedstocks, and when combined with the refining expertise of our joint venture partner, supports DGD's position as the lowest-cost producer of renewable fuels in North America," Stuewe added.