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Print Edition StoriesThursday, January 15, 2009
Florida gives Verenium $7M for its first commercial ethanol plant
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Executives at Cambridge cellulosic ethanol technology developer Verenium Corp. report the company plans to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highland County, Fla.
As part of the project, the company has also landed $7 million in funding through the sunshine state’s “Farm to Fuel” initiative, led by the Florida Department of Agriculture. To supply the project with fuel, Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM) has also entered into a long-term agreement with Lykes Bros. Inc., a Florida agri-business, to provide the facility with agricultural biomass for conversion to fuel.
The plant is expected to cost between $250 million and $300 million to build, and will be the state’s first such facility. Once completed, the plant, which will be built on fallow land, will be capable of producing 36 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year and provide the region with about 140 full-time jobs, according to the company. Verenium anticipates breaking ground on this facility in the second half of this year, and expects to start producing fuel in 2011. Construction is expected to take 18 months to 24 months.
Highland County is located in the south central part of the state.
Verenium’s enzymes and distillation process aims to make ethanol, capable of being used as a general purpose fuel, using non-food based fuel sources.
Verenium was formed in June 2006 through the merger of Cambridge-based Celunol Corp. and California enzyme maker Diversa Corp., a publicly traded company. For 2007, the company reported $46.2 million in revenue, with a $108 million loss.
For the third quarter of 2008, Verenium reported $16.4 million in total revenue compared to $10.9 million for the same periods in 2007. In August, the company also landed a $90 million licensing deal with worldwide energy giant BP PLC, which will grant BP access to certain technologies developed through the partnership.
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