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Irvine Renewable-Energy Firm Eyes $270M Loan From China Ex-Im Bank

The Export-Import Bank of China last week signed a letter of intent to provide a $270 million loan to Irvine-based BlueFire Renewables Inc.

BlueFire is a renewable-energy company that converts nonfood resources, such as trash, agricultural residues, and wood waste, into renewable fuel sources. It has eight employees and operates a pilot facility in Anaheim that converts waste into sugars.

The company, which trades on the over-the-counter market, has a market capitalization of $6.6 million. It had $87,000 in net income in the June quarter, the first quarterly profit in a year.

BlueFire said the loan from China will help finance the construction of its bio-energy plant in Fulton, Miss. Work on the facility began in 2009 and was halted in 2013.

“We’ve been trying to finance it since 2009,” said Richard Klann, director of business development and marketing for BlueFire. “We did some site preparation and construction [initially], but we were unable to raise all the financings. We had a couple of applications with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy [for funding], but neither worked out. It made us look abroad for other countries to provide financial backing.”

Construction will resume when the financing process is completed, Klann said.

Construction of the Fulton facility is expected to take about two years. It will employ between 60 and 80 workers and produce about 19 million gallons of ethanol a year once it’s up and running, according to the company.

BlueFire recently signed a contract with China Three Gorges Corp., a state-owned utility company based in Beijing, to oversee engineering and project management for the Fulton project.

Klann said BlueFire was introduced to China Three Gorges by the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Sustainable Development. That led to an introduction to Ex-Im Bank.

“This is a huge deal, especially for a small business like BlueFire,” Klann said.

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