RoughRider Energy LLC is developing a 240 million-gallon-per-year (MMgy) corn ethanol plant near Glen Ullin in southwestern North Dakota, with construction expected to begin this year and commercial operations targeted for 2029.
The project has secured key zoning approvals after the company sought to reclassify its 718-acre site in Morton County from agricultural to industrial use. The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the application in September, followed by approval from the Morton County Commission in October.
According to documents submitted to county authorities, the proposed facility will comprise grain receiving and storage infrastructure, ethanol processing units, coproduct handling facilities, process utilities, rail and road connections, stormwater management and fire protection systems. It will also include administrative and maintenance buildings, along with integrated equipment to capture and compress carbon dioxide.
The plant is expected to process around 84 million bushels of locally and regionally sourced corn annually. At full capacity, it will produce approximately 240 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol, 660,000 tonnes of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and 95 million pounds of corn oil each year.
Carbon dioxide generated during fermentation will be captured and compressed at the plant before being transported through a proposed pipeline developed by RoughRider Carbon Transport LLC. The pipeline is planned to connect the facility with a proposed underground geological storage site being developed by Summit Carbon Storage #1 LLC in Mercer County, approximately 15 miles north of the ethanol plant.
County filings identify Wade Boeshans, executive vice president of Summit Carbon Solutions, as president of RoughRider Energy LLC. Bruce Rastetter, founder of Summit Agricultural Group, is listed as an executive officer of RoughRider Energy Holdings LLC in documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Glen Ullin project is among the new ethanol developments planned in southwestern North Dakota. Gevo has also proposed a 75 MMgy corn ethanol facility next to its existing plant in Richardton, approximately 30 miles west of Glen Ullin.
