May 24--A Texas company plans to build as many as five biodiesel plants in Hampton Roads over the next five years -- an investment of roughly $200 million -- to capitalize on surging demand for clean-burning fuels.

Endicott Biofuels LLC hopes to accomplish a critical step toward that goal by June 1, signing a long-term lease on land for the first plant. The 4 1/2-acre waterfront parcel with rail access is in either Portsmouth or Chesapeake, said company Principal Richard D. Wyatt, who declined to identify the site. "I want to be able to get on a podium in downtown Norfolk at the waterfront and yell about the project," he said Wednesday. "It's real exciting what we're going to be doing." Two other alternative-energy companies are also aiming to build projects in Hampton Roads. Smiling Earth Energy LLC of Bakersfield, Calif., has applied for permits to build what it says would be the world's largest biodiesel plant in Chesapeake's Southorfolk neighborhood.

Production at the $532 million complex is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2008. Also in Chesapeake, almost directly across the Elizabeth River's Southern Branch, a subsidiary of Switzerland's Inter Bio Energy plans to spend about $500 million to erect ethanol and biodiesel plants, both of which would be among the country's largest. Ethanol would begin flowing first, in 2009. The alternative-energy projects have emerged amid growing interest for fuels that are supposed to cut down air pollution and gasses associated with global warming. Ethanol is commonly produced from corn. Biodiesel is often made from vegetable oils or an mal fats.

"We're not even remotely afraid of competition," Wyatt said, explaining that the potential market is so vast. The Virginian-Pilot reported in January that Wyatt's company planned to build a biodiesel plant in Hampton Roads, although few details were ava lable. A federal tax credit that took effect in 2005 is helping spur development of biodiesel plants, said Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group. There are 105 commercial biodiesel plants nationally, including four in Vir inia, with the closest to Hampton Roads in New Kent between Williamsburg and Richmond.

Another 77 are under construction. A year ago, 50 plants were being built, she said. Endicott's project, the first for the two -year old-firm, will begin moving rapidly once the land has been secured, Wyatt said. The company, based in Houston, has letters of intent with a company to provide the processing technology and with several pot ntial suppliers of raw materials. Progressing to formal contracts hinges on Endicott having control of the land, Wyatt said, adding that production should begin within 16 months after finalizing the deal. Key potential customers are the military and international shipping lines, both of which consume large quantities of fuel, he said.

Both are in abundance in Hampton Roads. The initial facility has a planned capacity of between 50 million and 60 million gallons per year, but Wyatt wants to reduce its size to 30 million gallons to make it easier to build a second plant. Each would employ about 30 people, with the larger pla ts costing roughly $77 million apiece and the 30 million-gallon units priced at approximately $40 million. New biodiesel plants produce on average 20 million gallons per year, Higgins said. The idea behind having smaller, multiple plants in Hampton Roads is to locate them near potential suppliers of raw ingredients, such as Smithfield-based Smithfield Foods Inc., the nation's largest pork producer.

The transportation savings can reach into the million of dollars if vast quantities of ingredients, such as poultry fat, only need to be moved short distances, Wyatt said. Endicott expects to transport both its raw materials and finished fuel mostly via trains and ships, Wyatt said. Its biodiesel plants would be capable of processing a broad array of feedstock into bio-fuels, he said. Some facilities could consume various types of ingredients with similar chemical makeups, Wyatt said, such as palm and canola oils. But to diversify ts supply base so it's not over-reliant on any one source, Endicott's units would be capable of consuming many different products, such as palm and soy oils, in addition to poultry fat.

No other plants in the country have such a capability, Wyatt said. The first plant is being nearly entirely financed through a Houston-based private equity firm that Wyatt declined to name. Wyatt said he and his three partners, all of whom have extensive energy industry experience, are providing mostly "sweat equity" t the project. No public incentives are planned to build the units. The company has no t applied for its necessary city and state permits yet, Wyatt said. Amy Parkhurst, a vice president with the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, said more alternative energy companies may announce plans to build locally.

Over the past year, her agency, a regional economic development group, has fielded many calls from such companies, which are attracted to the area's industrial waterfront sites near a major port. uF022 -- Reach Gregory Richards at(757) 446-2599 or gregory.richards@pilotonline.com .