Ethanol Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Equity holders for Red Trail Energy LLC's ethanol plant in Richardton, North Dakota, approved the $210 million sale of the plant to Gevo Inc., according to a news release from Gevo, with plans to expand production at the plant to include sustainable aviation fuel.

Gevo will have a total sequestration capacity of 1 million metric tons per year that includes 160,000 metric tons currently being used by Red Trail.

The deal also includes Red Trail's 65-million-gallon ethanol plant that started production in 2007. The plant originally was built as one of the first coal-fired ethanol plants in the country and converted to natural gas in 2016.

In 2021, Gevo announced it had purchased 240 acres near Lake Preston, South Dakota, where it continues to develop what it calls a "net-zero" project to include SAF production.

The sale is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025, according to Gevo.

"On behalf of the entire team at Gevo and our board of directors, stakeholders, shareholders, investors and customers and industry partners, we would like to thank the equity holders of Red Trail Energy for approving the acquisition," said Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber.

"With this investment, Gevo will be set on a path to becoming self-sustaining and profitable as a company in advance of our net-zero one project coming online. This acquisition also enables an ideal location for a net-zero north plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel. It also mitigates risk around carbon sequestration for our net-zero one plant site in South Dakota."

Red Trail currently has 47 employees with an annual $4 million payroll, according to the company's website.

Gevo said the carbon capture and storage facility above the Broom Creek formation has the potential to expand sequestration by five times.

"We believe these assets are ideal for furthering Gevo's mission to create price-competitive domestic bio-based production pathways for SAF using Gevo's integrated alcohol-to-jet technology and de-fossilized energy, combined with CCS," said Chris Ryan, president and COO of Gevo.

Read more on DTN:

"Gevo Buys Red Trail Ethanol Plant," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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