The transaction is associated with HLCP’s wholly owned subsidiary, Blue Flint Ethanol (BFE), and associated Blue Flint companies, which are located near Underwood, North Dakota, and are generating, capturing and sequestering biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2).
Blue Flint is the third biorefinery in the U.S. to capture its CO2 emissions and the first Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) entity to commence carbon capture operations following the August 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Its operations began in October 2023, and over 125,000 metric tons of CO2 were captured and sequestered. In the future, the facility is expected to capture over 200,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent CO2 emissions of nearly 42,000 vehicles.
As the owner of the entire value chain, HLCP was able to structure a tax equity financing that enabled Bank of America to participate in the 45Q federal tax credits and, when available, to purchase 45Z clean fuel tax credits generated by the biorefinery facility. All tax credits generated by the Blue Flint assets are generated in connection with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) infrastructure, which captures the biogenic carbon dioxide emissions released during the production process. Upon capturing the CO2, it is compressed to a liquid and safely and permanently injected into a deep underground geologic formation via a Class VI injection well.
“We have built a strong track record of innovative financing transactions for decarbonization technologies including carbon capture and sequestration. We are engaging with all of our clients including partners like Harvestone and providing them a full suite of financial solutions tailored to meet their needs as they take steps to transition to a more sustainable future,” said Karen Fang, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Bank of America, in a statement.
