Independent USDA Section 9003 feasibility studies, project financial models and business plans for sponsors and lenders pursuing a guarantee for an advanced biofuel, renewable chemical or biobased product manufacturing project — prepared as one consistent body of evidence.
The Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program — commonly called the USDA Section 9003 Program or the USDA Biorefinery Guaranteed Loan Program — is a USDA Rural Development guarantee on loans made by eligible lenders. USDA describes it as supporting the development, construction and retrofitting of projects that use new and emerging technologies for advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products. A USDA Section 9003 feasibility study is the independent document at the centre of that application.
A one-minute overview of what a Section 9003 application asks sponsors and lenders to evidence. It explains the independently prepared feasibility study and project financial model, how Wert-Berater supports feasibility and business-plan work, and why the lender and USDA keep their own decisions.
A Section 9003 loan guarantee may support eligible commercial-scale biorefineries using new and emerging technologies, and certain biobased manufacturing, through participating lenders. Applications include an independently prepared feasibility study testing markets, technology, management, finances, and economics, alongside a project financial model. Wert-Berater helps coordinate appropriately qualified independent feasibility work, analyze feedstocks and offtake, and prepare borrower business-plan materials suited to the project. The lender handles credit evaluation and submission; USDA makes its own eligibility and guarantee decisions. We are independent of USDA and lenders. No financing or approval is promised.
Eligible project categories include developing, constructing or retrofitting a commercial-scale biorefinery using eligible technology, and biobased product manufacturing facilities that use technologically new commercial-scale processing and manufacturing equipment to convert renewable chemicals or other biorefinery outputs into end-user products. Certain refinancing may be eligible.
It is not a general-purpose rural business loan, and its requirements are not the Business & Industry program’s. Borrower and lender each have their own eligibility criteria. USDA’s program page describes a nonbinding letter of intent, a Phase 1 application that is ranked, and a Phase 2 application by invitation. Which materials are due at each phase should be confirmed with USDA and the lender against the current application instructions; the feasibility study appears among the Phase 1 items in 7 CFR 4279.261.
7 CFR 4279.261 provides that the feasibility study should be prepared by a qualified, independent third party and cover economic, market, technical, financial and management feasibility. Within that framework we analyze:
We do not provide engineering certification, and a feasibility study does not determine technical feasibility for USDA: under 7 CFR 4279.265 that determination is USDA’s. Where the file needs specialist technical co-authors, we identify that before engagement.
Every model we deliver is an active, linked workbook — no hard-coded outputs — with a written assumption schedule a lender or USDA reviewer can trace line by line. The core set is:
| Statement or test | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Projected income statements | Revenue built from volume and price drivers; operating costs built from staffing, inputs, utilities, insurance and maintenance. |
| Projected balance sheets | Assets, liabilities and equity through construction, ramp-up and stabilized operations, reconciled to the cash flow. |
| Projected cash flows | Operating, investing and financing cash, working capital and reserves. |
| Sources and uses | Total project cost reconciled to every proposed funding source, including the lender loan and borrower equity. |
| Debt-service analysis | Coverage on the actual proposed loan structure, year by year. |
| Sensitivity and scenario analysis | The two or three variables that actually move the outcome, stressed individually and together, with break-even points stated. |
The lender also submits the borrower’s business plan, although information already included in the feasibility study may be omitted from it. We draft the plan from the same model and assumptions so the two documents complement each other rather than repeat or contradict. A Section 9003 business plan engagement can address:
Scoping a Section 9003 file? Tell us the technology, feedstock and lender, and we will confirm which study, model and plan work your application calls for.
| You provide | You receive |
|---|---|
| Technology description, pilot or demonstration data and any independent technical reports | Independent feasibility study report with stated assumptions, conditions and limitations |
| Feedstock sourcing plans, letters of intent or supply agreements | Feedstock and market analysis sections supported by sourced, dated evidence |
| Offtake agreements, term sheets or market correspondence | Active project financial model with assumption schedule and sensitivities |
| Capital cost estimate, EPC approach and schedule; sponsor financials and proposed lender terms | Borrower business plan aligned to the study and model |
| Any USDA letter-of-intent response or Phase 2 invitation | A reconciliation memo so the lender’s package, study and plan carry the same numbers |
The lender prepares and submits the application with its credit evaluation. USDA decides eligibility, technical and economic feasibility, and whether to issue a guarantee. We prepare or coordinate the feasibility study, model and business plan within our scope and qualifications. We do not supply lender underwriting, engineering certification, agency approval or financing.
It is the independent analysis included in a Section 9003 loan guarantee application covering the economic, market, technical, financial and management feasibility of the proposed biorefinery or biobased manufacturing project, supported by a project financial model.
The application content in 7 CFR 4279.261 includes a feasibility study that should be prepared by a qualified, independent third party. Confirm current instructions and timing with USDA and your lender.
Yes. The lender submits the borrower’s business plan, but information already included in the feasibility study may be omitted from that plan.
Typically ownership and organization, management experience, strategy, products, major equipment and systems, labor and raw-material needs, site and distribution, market and competition, advantages and risks, projected income statements, balance sheets and cash flows, and the proposed use of funds, drafted to complement the feasibility study.
USDA’s current Section 9003 program page describes loan guarantees up to $250 million. Confirm the applicable cap, guarantee share, funding availability and current solicitation with USDA and your lender; a stated maximum is not an amount any project will receive.
Eligibility turns on the lender, the borrower and the project. Eligible projects include commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology and biobased product manufacturing facilities using technologically new commercial-scale equipment. USDA makes the eligibility determination.
The regulation describes an active-format project financial model. In practice that means linked projected income statements, balance sheets and cash flows, sources and uses, debt-service analysis and sensitivities, with every assumption explained.
It depends on the technology, the state of feedstock and offtake evidence and how complete the project data is. We give a schedule in the written proposal after reviewing your materials, rather than quoting a generic timeline.
Yes, subject to scope and the independence the study requires. We build both from one model so they agree, and coordinate any required independent technical review.
A project description, technology and pilot data, feedstock and offtake status, capital cost estimate, sponsor financial statements, proposed lender terms and any USDA correspondence.
Page updated . Confirm current program requirements and application instructions with USDA and your lender.
Program facts on this page are drawn from USDA Rural Development pages and the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Program terms, notices and application windows change; the current official text and your lender’s instructions govern.
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Legal disclosure. Wert-Berater, Inc. offices are mailing addresses only. Following the COVID-19 pandemic the firm has elected to work remotely; its office locations receive mail and are not staffed for visitors or in-person meetings. Headquarters mailing address: 1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.
Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.