KAAPA Ethanol Expands Capacity Amid Growing Demand

KAAPA Ethanol has been growing steadily since its founding in February 2001 by a group of farmers and investors. The company's plant west of Minden started with an annual ethanol production capacity of 40 million gallons a year, but now produces 85 million gallons plus 500,000 tons of distillers grains annually.

Today, the facility processes about 29 million bushels of corn per year, which requires more ground and building storage. In response to this growth, KAAPA officials have focused on road improvements last year and grain storage and movement this year.

A new 4-million-bushel grain storage building was added to the east end of the property in 2026, featuring a leg that increases dumping speed to 30,000 bushels per hour. The expansion also includes a large ground pile of corn.

KAAPA Ethanol Chief Executive Officer Chuck Woodside emphasized the importance of giving consumers the choice for E15 year-round, citing potential savings of up to $2.7 billion overall in California alone. With recent legislation allowing year-round use of E15 in the state, Californians can now save 47 cents per gallon by using E15 instead of E10.

Woodside also mentioned that Indonesia has become a new importer of U.S. ethanol at 100 million gallons per year, and that Canada is the biggest importer at 600-700 million gallons annually.