Eco Material Technologies and Bismarck, N.D.-based Rainbow Energy Center have expanded their partnership to jointly invest in new beneficiation and harvesting plants to further decarbonize the concrete industry with sustainable cement alternatives.
Eco Material and Rainbow will capture, beneficiate and market all of the solid-form discharged materials from North Dakota’s largest power plant, Coal Creek Station, adding to their existing partnership that markets high-quality fly ash in the concrete sector.
“We expect demand for high-quality sustainable cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash and pozzolans to grow rapidly over the next 10 years and we are excited to work with Rainbow to provide that for the industry,” said Eco Material Technologies CEO Grant Quasha. “This project is the culmination of a relationship between Eco Material and Coal Creek Station on fly ash beneficial use for over 30 years, and that partnership has only grown since Rainbow’s purchase of the facility in 2022. This project marks a key turning point in the SCM market for the region.”
The project will be the first beneficiation and harvesting plants in North Dakota and the second bottom ash beneficiation and harvesting project within Eco Material’s portfolio. The Coal Creek project will provide an additional 400,000 tons annually of SCMs over the next 25 years to service the rapidly growing markets in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Eco Material will also be investing in additional storage terminals across the region to ensure that no winter ash is disposed and that customers have the materials they need for projects in the region’s shorter summer season. The beneficiation plants at Coal Creek and the new regional storage terminals are expected to be completed in 2025.
