On March 3, 2010, Joseph J. James, President of
Agri-TechProducers, LLC (ATP), announced that ATP has entered into an exciting strategic partnership with Cate Street Capital, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. To see the complete
Press Release, click
HERE. Also, to read an
article about our new relationship with
Cate Street Capital, please click
HERE.
Cate Street Capital will facilitate the manufacture of and purchases of what may be the world’s first commercial-grade torrefaction machines, provide large amounts of torrefied fuel for electric utility test burns, and also provide lease financing for select operators seeking to acquire and use ATP’s torrefaction machines. That first machine, called the
Torre-Tech® 5.0, will be completed by mid-summer 2010 and will produce five tons of torrefied wood, an hour. To see a
Spec Sheet for the
Torre-Tech® 5.0machine, click
HERE.
Mr. James says, “Our new partnership with Cate Street Capital will help accelerate the use of torrefied biomass in the US, create hundreds maybe thousands of jobs and, in the process, make our environment cleaner. We have had very strong, global interest in our machines, as our torrefaction process is believed to be among the most cost-effective in the world.”
Cate Street Capital (CSC) is a New Hampshire-based, private equity firm focused upon investing in renewable energy projects in the United States. Partners of the company have financed over 40 projects in the last 15 years. With the support of its private equity investors and financial institutions, they have raised over $6 billion for these projects. For more information, see CSC’s website:
www.CateStreetCapital.com .
Bob Payne, Managing Director of CSC, states “Cate Street Capital is very excited about its new partnership with ATP and Kusters Zima, because together we can reliably insure the availability of commercial quantities of torrefied fuels, as a high value-added source of renewable energy for U.S. utilities.”
Mr. James reported, “For the last 60 days, we have been carefully evaluating proposals from three, finalist investment companies. The choice became clear, as CSC unveiled its national plan to promote the use of torrefied fuels, produced using ATP’s machines. CSC’s ability to raise the necessary funding and its capability to take on risks were determining factors, as well”.
In addition to producing and selling torrefaction equipment, ATP intends to develop and operate a few torrefaction-based processing plants, in conjunction with key strategic partners. ATP intends to become involved in the planting and harvesting of high-density bio-crops, which can be treated by its torrefaction process. In addition, ATP will continue to explore the creation of mobile torrefaction equipment, thanks to a grant from the U. S. Department of Energy, as well as explore ways in which its torrefaction process can promote economic development and job creation in distressed rural communities. ATP can also produce a biochar, for soil enhancement purposes, and a cooking fuel, for the Third-World, which can reduce de-forestation pressures.
ATP has an exclusive license to innovative torrefaction technology developed by North Carolina State University (NCSU). This process cost-effectively converts cellulosic biomass, like wood chips and bio-crops, into a substance, which can be used as a coal substitute; as a superior feedstock from which to make stronger, more energy dense and water repellent energy pellets; and as a superior feedstock from which to make cellulosic ethanol, using gasification methods. Please note the following PowerPoint for an overview:
We are manufacturing torrefaction machines, through our partnership with Kusters Zima Corporation (KZC), and are both selling such equipment to a variety of customers, as well as deploying torrefaction equipment in projects of our own and in certain joint-ventures.
We have had strong interest from many would-be customers from the nation's forestry, pellet and electric utility sector, as well as from all over the world, as our process is seen to be the most cost-effective.
