Aemetis Acquires Cilion Fuel Ethanol Plant in California for $15 Million

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Up and coming biofuels player Aemetis Incorporated (OTC:AMTX) (Cupertino, California) has spent an estimated $15 million to acquire the former 55 million-gallon-per-year fuel ethanol plant in Keyes, California, which had been owned by Cilion Incorporated (Goshen, California), which now operates as a subsidiary of Aemetis.

Cilion had grand plans back in 2006 to construct eight new 100 million-plus-gallon-per-year fuel ethanol plants in California, Illinois and Nebraska during the height of the ethanol boom. Then the ethanol market crashed, funding to construct new plants could not be found, and the projects were cancelled.

With the Keyes plant acquisition, the company now has a modest 105 million-gallon-per-year production capacity thru the Keyes facility and a 50 million-gallon-per-year plant in Kakinada, India.

The California plant utilizes corn feedstocks and will further develop second-generation technology as a biorefinery, producing the fuel additive and specialty chemicals like isoprene, which is used in the production of synthetic rubber.

The plant was shuttered in late 2009, and Aemetis re-started the operation in April 2011 and has been running continuously for more than a year. The original $130 million plant was constructed and commissioned in November 2008 by Cilion Incorporated. However, in early 2009, the plant was closed due to technical and market issues. AE Keyes took possession of the facility under a project agreement with Cilion in March 2010, signed a facility lease for up to five years, and funded $8 million of financing to retrofit and restart the plant.

Industrial Info's databases provide a comprehensive outline of all current development activities in the emerging alternative fuels market. Our North American Biodiesel Database covers 136 operational plants and 90 plants in development. Our North American Ethanol Database covers 214 plants in operation and 138 plants in various development phases. Our North American Wood Fuel Pellet Database includes 63 operational plants producing more than 25,000 tons annually, and 38 projects in progress.

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