Aemetis receives funds from sale of $17 million in federal clean-energy tax credits

Aemetis Inc. announced Dec. 30 that its Aemetis Biogas LLC subsidiary received funds from the sale of $17 million of federal clean-energy tax credits, including a section 45Z clean fuel production credit (PTC) and a section 48 investment tax credit (ITC).

The transaction included approximately $12 million for a section 48 ITC generated from the construction of a dairy-manure digester that produces biogas and approximately $5 million from a section 45Z PTC generated from renewable natural-gas (RNG) production during 2025.

Net cash proceeds from the transaction were approximately $15 million after transaction costs.

“This tax-credit sale represents an important step in monetizing federal clean-fuel transferable tax incentives and establishing a new recurring source of cash flow,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis.

“This is our first sale of a section 45Z clean fuel production credit from dairy RNG, and we expect additional section 45Z transactions in 2026 and future years from ongoing RNG production, along with additional section 48 transactions from ongoing digester construction,” he added.

The section 45Z PTC sold in this transaction was calculated under current treasury department guidance.

The company expects the amount of future 45Z tax credits to increase significantly based on production volume increases, increased credit values mandated by the “big, beautiful bill,” and expected additional regulatory clarity.

In addition, Aemetis expects to generate a transferable section 45C tax credit in 2026 worth $10.5 million, which has received approval from the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. DOE.

“With the completion of $95 million of ITC transactions and today’s first section 45Z sale, we are executing our tax credit monetization strategy,” McAfee said.

“We expect federal 45Z PTCs to be a rapidly growing source of operating cash flow to support the expansion of production and new job creation,” he said.