United States – Aemetis signed a Master Developer Agreement with the City of Riverbank to lease/purchase the Riverbank Industrial Complex, a 125-acre former military base in Riverbank, California.
The Riverbank facility includes 710,000 square feet of existing buildings, a four-mile railroad loop with 120 railcar storage capacity, and a 100 percent low-carbon hydroelectric substation. Since its decommissioning as an army base, the site has received more than $72 million in federal funding for facility upgrades and remediation.
At the site, Aemetis intends to construct the “Carbon Zero 1” sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel biorefinery. The plant is designed to produce 90 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, and other byproducts per year using onsite hydroelectric and other renewable power. The plant is expected to supply ultra-low carbon renewable fuels to the aviation and trucking markets, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other pollutants associated with traditional petroleum-based fuels.
The Riverbank Industrial Complex was a 3,500-person ammunition manufacturing facility that has been converted to civilian use, with approximately 35 companies employing 650 people. Aemetis will manage current tenants, use existing production facilities for new tenants or as production facilities, and develop vacant portions of the site with planned renewable fuels and carbon sequestration facilities under the terms of the Master Developer Agreement and as the owner of the properties as parcels are transferred.
The Riverbank Industrial Complex acquisition by Aemetis paves the way for a clean energy economic and environmental renaissance in California’s Central Valley.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded Aemetis a $5 million grant for the engineering and construction of biofuels production facilities at the Riverbank site.
