Gevo closes on land for Net-Zero 1 facility in South Dakota, plans to break ground this fall

Gevo Inc. announced July 25 that it has closed on the purchase of approximately 245 acres near Lake Preston, South Dakota, for its first commercial scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility, Net-Zero 1. The site was initially optioned for purchase by Gevo in December 2020.

“After just over 18 months of due diligence at the site, we are excited to commit and move forward,” said Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber. “The potential of what we are creating here is, I think, immense. We are working to bring sustainable agriculture into the solution to capture carbon and catalyze the buildout of wind, renewable hydrogen, and biogas, combined with new paradigms for managing energy. I expect that Lake Preston and South Dakota will showcase what works well when all the parts unite. I want to get on with it and show people what is possible. Capturing renewable energy and transforming it into SAF and other liquid hydrocarbon fuels is game changing. It enables the transformation of renewable energy and carbon, in the form of liquids, to anywhere it is needed, and it can be done on a net-zero GHG lifecycle basis when all of the parts of the business system are accounted for. We expect that Middle America will continue to lead the energy transition.”

Tony Wells, Gevo’s site leader and general manager, said, “The local availability of low-carbon corn as a feedstock for our process makes Lake Preston a favorable location for this operation. Additionally, the local wind conditions are ideal for the wind power that will provide electricity to our plant, and there is a good local market for the high-protein animal feed product that we will be selling.”

Gevo expects to break ground on the project in September, with the formal announcement of a groundbreaking event for state and local representatives and select members of the media coming next month. The associated wind-energy project that will provide electricity to the facility is in development. This project schedule should allow Gevo to begin delivery of initial volumes of SAF in 2025 to fulfill a portion of existing supply agreements. Net-Zero 1 is expected to produce 55 million gallons per year (mgy) of SAF, or 62 mgyof total hydrocarbon volumes.