Posted By KYLE REA, Times-Journal

The newly built Aylmer ethanol plant now has a security blanket courtesy of the federal government.

Wednesday, the government announced it would provide up to $84.7 million over seven years for the Integrated Grain Processors Cooperative, which opened the $132 million facility in Aylmer last December.

The phrase "up to" is key, since the company could access the cash, depending on how the ethanol market, and the plant specifically, are doing.

"If things are going really well and fuel prices stay where they are, they may need none of this and if they need more, they'll take more," explained Joe Preston, Conservative MP for Elgin-Middlesex-London.

To access the money, the company must apply to the federal government and IGPC would report on a monthly basis.

"The operations are really just beginning. It's hard to tell whether we'll need the money or not," said plant CEO Jim Grey.

"IGPC has provided direct and indirect economic stimulus to an area that so badly needs it."

Officially opened last December, the plant employs 40 people and turns 36,000 bushels of corn into 420,000 litres of ethanol every day, with an annual output of 150 million litres.

Approximately 900 area farmers invested in the $132 million plant, which also saw contributions from the provincial and federal governments.
 
Grey noted 6,000 truckloads of local corn have been delivered to the facility since it opened last December. In addition to providing a market for local corn, it's a boost for livestock producers since a byproduct of ethanol production is distillers grain -- a high-energy livestock feed. The plant produces 330 tonnes of feed every year.