State awards $800K to Navitas Global to revive long-idle ethanol plant in Portales

Renewable energy company Navitas Global will receive an $800,000 grant from the New Mexico Economic Development Department to hire staff and revive a dormant ethanol production facility in Portales, state officials announced this month.

The funds will help create 31 new jobs at the plant, which will produce ethanol, a renewable fuel typically made from plants. The money comes from the state’s Local Economic Development Act, or LEDA, designed to boost local economies across the state, with special consideration given to environmentally sustainable projects.

Navitas will take over the defunct former Abengoa Bioenergy ethanol plant along U.S. 70 in Portales. The plant was built in 1984 but has been empty since 2012.

The new ethanol plant will have an annual payroll of $1.9 million and will cost $42 million, according to state officials. The project is expected to be completed at the end of next year.

“We’re very excited to have Navitas Global come to Portales,” Portales Mayor Mike Miller said in a statement. “It will be great to have the property occupied once again, not to mention the jobs and payroll that will be created.”

Navitas converts dairy byproducts into ethanol and animal feed. Eastern New Mexico is home to several major dairy producers, including Dairy Farmers of America, which sits next door to Navitas’ new ethanol plant in Portales.

“This is a great example of turning yesterday’s waste into smart, sustainable economic engines,” Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Rob Black said in a statement.

Eduard Zaydman, director of Navitas Global, said in the news release that the company’s technology uses “very little water” and generates “large amounts of clean water every day during production.”

Navitas was also awarded funds from EDD’s Job Training Incentive Program in June to train up to 34 new employees, state officials said. The program pays a minimum of 50% of wages for new hires for up to six months.

“We believe Portales is an ideal project location to expand our operations,” Zaydman said.