Wisconsin Ag Connection - UW-Oshkosh Foundation to Sell Biodigester to Pay Creditors

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UW-Oshkosh Foundation to Sell Biodigester to Pay Creditors
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 08/17/2018

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Foundation has been given the go-ahead to sell one of its two biodigesters to pay off some of its debts after filing for bankruptcy two years ago. Fond du Lac County Circuit Judge Richard Nuss signed off on a proposal by the foundation to divest its Rosendale digester through a public auction scheduled for August 27.

Court records say the group filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and still owes $8.5 million to 14 creditors. First Business Bank of Madison has been listed as the largest of the creditors, which is still owed more than $7 million.

The idea of putting the property on the auction block came after the group began negotiating a possible sale of the digester with five separate companies, including a commodities firm based in Connecticut that offered to pay $2.1 million for it last month.

Located on the same property as the 8,000-cow Rosendale Dairy, the digester first went online several years ago to covert animal waste into electricity. A first of its kind in the U.S., the school uses it as an on-site learning facility to train technicians, scientists and engineers for the biogas and renewable energy industry.

The UW-Oshkosh also owns a smaller biodigester near the its campus that uses the gas from decomposing plant and food waste to create energy. That property is not being listed for sale at this time, according to foundation officials.

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