Aemetis Inc., a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on low and negative carbon intensity products, today announced approval by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of $200 million of EB-5 program investment for the Riverbank sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant, the dairy renewable natural gas (RNG) project, the carbon sequestration project, and energy efficiency upgrades to the Keyes ethanol plant.
The Riverbank plant was recently granted Authority to Construct (ATC) air permits and is designed to produce 78 million gallons of SAF annually for the aviation market. Aemetis has already secured over $3 billion of contracts to supply airlines with SAF.
“This $200 million of funding provides attractive terms at a low-interest rate to fund our projects, including the dairy renewable natural gas project and the sustainable aviation fuel plant to meet rapidly increasing global demand for SAF from airlines,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “This EB-5 funding, the 20-year USDA guaranteed loans, and other financings support the continued growth of the company as outlined in the Aemetis Five Year Plan,” McAfee added.
According to the determinations made by the USCIS, the Regional Center they have presented evidence asserting that 245 qualified investors will invest $200 million in EB-5 capital into Advanced Bioenergy II, the new commercial enterprise (NCE). The NCE will invest in Aemetis Advanced Products Keyes, the job-creating entity (JCE). The JCE intends to expand the existing 65 million gallons per year Aemetis ethanol plant in Keyes, California by the engineering, permitting, construction, and operation of: 1) upgrades to the ethanol plant for improved energy efficiency and increased production, including the installation of solar panels, mechanical vapor recompression, and the use of sugars from the waste forest and orchard wood to replace corn sugars for biofuels production; 2) the dairy Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) system that includes dairy digesters, a gas pipeline, a central facility to convert biogas to renewable natural gas, RNG fueling stations, and an interconnection facility to the utility gas pipeline; 3) a biofuels production facility that uses the distiller's oil product of the ethanol plant and other renewable oils to produce SAF and RD; and 4) a well that sequesters carbon in the form of CO2 emitted by the production processes and other CO2 emissions collected in the area.
The Project’s two primary locations are the Aemetis Advanced Fuels Keyes 65 million gallons per year ethanol plant and the Riverbank Industrial Complex. The USCIS found that the Aemetis projects are both located within high-unemployment areas.
Eight investors have already invested $500,000 per investor (a total of $4.0 million) and 245 additional future investors have now been approved at $800,000 per investor (for an additional $196.0 million) for a total of $200 million under the EB-5 program.