Minnesota secures $213.6M DOE loan for Bioforge Marshall facility

In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz recently announced Minnesota has secured funding that will finance Bioforge Marshall LLC, a 500,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Marshall, Minnesota. The plant, owned by Solugen, a climate technology company focused on minimizing carbon emissions, will utilize Minnesota grown corn to manufacture chemicals usually made from oil, resulting in significantly lower carbon emissions.

The project will be funded by a $213.6 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office, the largest U.S. government investment in bioindustrial manufacturing since an Executive Order advancing biotechnology and biomanufacturing. An additional $15 million will come from the Minnesota Forward Fund, a new Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) program Governor Walz signed into law last year. The fund will invest $400 million in business growth in Minnesota and will provide matching funds for companies seeking federal resources like CHIPS Act, IRA and IIJA. This is the Minnesota Forward Fund’s second award.

The facility will manufacture various organic acids for use in concrete, cleaning, agriculture, and energy industries. Current operations at Bioforge Houston have demonstrated an over 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional petroleum-based methods. Operations in Marshall are expected to reduce emissions equivalent to powering 3500 American homes annually. This project is expected to create up to 100 jobs during construction and 56 highly skilled, full-time manufacturing jobs once fully operational.