The story
The Coal Creek power station which provides the thermal input to the process began construction in 1974, becoming fully operational for electricity production in 1980. The power plant had already been using heat from some of the steam to dry the lignite coal it burns as fuel, improving its efficiency, however 60% of the steam's heat energy was still being lost. In 2005 Headwaters Incorporated, in conjunction with Great River Energy, announced their plans for the construction of an ethanol production facility collocated with the Coal Creek Power plant. The plant will be majority owned by Headwaters who will manage the construction and plant operations, with GRE owning a minority share of the plant. Construction of the facility took place during 2006 with ethanol production beginning in February 2007. In 2010, Headwaters sold its 51 percent ownership to Great River Energy which now has full ownership of the plant.
From Wikipedia’s article on Blue Flint Ethanol, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4