(The Center Square) – As legislation continues to move on $210 million in tax incentives for a new $1.5 billion pulpwood facility in Hayward, Synthec Fuels’ chief operating officer said that the decision on whether to put the facility in Hayward or another state is not solely dependent on the state funds.
The plant would take pulpwood and turn it into aviation fuel in what is called sustainable aviation fuel made from CORSIA wood mass operated by a German company working with Wisconsin-based Johnson Timber.
A bill dubbed the Forestry Revitalization Act would provide $60 million in enterprise tax credits and use the state forestry account to back $150 million in bonds for an incentive toward the project.
“You’re not selecting your site because of any incentives, you know, there are other factors which each are important,” Synthec Fuels CEO Matthias Mueller told The Chronotype of Rice Lake. “This is a significant amount, and even though we are fully funded, it creates positive effect on our side, and so we will have to weigh everything if decisions are being made. But I think this is premature, right now, to say that.”
The bill had a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry in October but has not seen a vote or an Assembly public hearing.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, is a bill sponsor along with Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View.
“This facility would be a great boon to Wisconsin, directly creating about 150 jobs at the facility and supporting over 200 additional jobs for loggers, truckers, foresters, etc., and converting 880,000 tons of wood residue into 48 million gallons of biofuel annually,” Felzkowski said in testimony supporting the bill.
Mueller told the paper that Hayward was the “first choice” for the plant over options in Minnesota and Michigan and that access to pulpwood, energy and both rail and highway transportation are important factors along with the tax incentives.
“The good news is that our business plan is not relying on it, but obviously, you know, it’s enhancing the bottom line, and it’s lowering the risk at our end,” Mueller told the outlet.
Part of the need for the sustainable aviation fuel is European regulations, which require a mix of the fuel.
The European Union will require 2% blends of the fuel by 2025, or 1.2 million tons, and 20% by 2035, or 13.6 million tons.
