Gevo breaks ground on S Dakota SAF production plant

US biofuels company Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) on Thursday commenced construction activities for what will become its first commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant.

To be installed in South Dakota, near the city of Lake Preston in Kingsbury County, the Net-Zero 1 facility will produce 55 million gallons of SAF annually. It will use electricity coming from an associated wind farm project that is currently under development.

Gevo bought a 245-acre (99.1-ha) property for the Net-Zero 1 facility at the end of July. Site preparation works have already been initiated, with major building activities to kick off in 2023. Deliveries of the initial SAF volumes, made from inedible corn products that are processed into ethanol and then into SAF, are expected to start in 2025 to fulfill part of the commitments under existing supply contracts.

The project also contains plans for the production of green hydrogen.

“South Dakota provides all the elements for success required for our first commercial facility, but we’re actively working to identify and develop our second site since we have supply offtake agreements that require additional capacity beyond Net-Zero 1,” said Chris Ryan, President and CEO of Gevo.

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