Engineering on track for Aemetis’ renewable diesel, SAF plant by global construction firm CTCI

Aemetis Inc. announced Sept. 12 that the engineering work completed during the past year by CTCI for the Aemetis Riverbank Carbon Zero sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel plant is on schedule for filing permits and conducting procurement beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

In October 2021, Aemetis announced it had entered into an agreement with engineering and construction firm CTCI Americas to conduct permitting and engineering work for the Carbon Zero plant to be built in Riverbank, California.

CTCI Americas is a subsidiary of CTCI Corp., a global engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm with $2.3 billion in revenue and engineering and construction experience in California.

In addition to CTCI, the engineering and project management team includes ATSI Inc. of Amherst, New York, in the role of owner’s engineer to advise Aemetis on technical matters related to the project.

ATSI is a 40-year-old firm with senior engineers who have extensive experience in the construction and commissioning of oil refineries worldwide, including commissioning of a $10 billion refinery in Asia. ATSI has performed more than five years of owner’s engineer and project management work with Aemetis, including carbon-reduction projects at the Keyes ethanol plant and the ongoing carbon capture and underground sequestration projects in Riverbank and Keyes.

The Aemetis Carbon Zero plant is being developed at a 125-acre former U.S. Army munitions production facility. The process design utilizes renewable hydrogen and renewable hydroelectric electricity to hydrotreat renewable oils to produce SAF and renewable diesel. The Riverbank plant is designed for a capacity of 90 million gallons per year with full flexibility for either 100 percent SAF or 100 percent renewable diesel production.

“With the extensive engineering and construction experience of CTCI and ATSI, we are fortunate to have a team of engineers and construction managers with experience in building renewable fuels plants in California,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “The Aemetis plant process design for the Riverbank [project] utilizes renewable oils, renewable hydrogen and renewable power to produce advanced renewable fuels that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and improve air quality. There are a limited number of firms with an ability to execute large-scale renewable fuels projects within California’s environmental requirements.”

Patrick Jameson, CEO of CTCI Americas, said, “CTCI brings an experienced EPC team of engineers, designers, supply chain and project management to the Aemetis sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant. We are currently working on several sustainable and renewable fuel projects including an EPC of a large renewable diesel plant in California.”

Brian Fojtasek, president of ATSI, added, “ATSI has worked closely with Aemetis for many years and we are comfortable with the high standards of project execution required to meet their expectations. Our role as the owner’s engineer firm on the SAF and renewable diesel project enables Aemetis to have an expert independent view of technology, engineering, construction and project management to improve the speed, cost and quality of project execution.”