Aemetis receives permission for Riverbank, US, SAF plant

Renewable natural gas and renewable fuel company, Aemetis, received a Use Permit from the City of Riverbank, California, to build a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) refinery at the 125-acre Riverbank Industrial Complex.

The plant will stand on an old U.S. Army ammunition production plant, repurposed to a 90m gallon/year SAF and biodiesel refinery. This comes as part of the federal Base Realignment and Closure programme, promoting “Green Businesses” to reuse the army plant. The approval also includes California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) determinations that enable the remaining project permits to be issued.

Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO, Aemetis said: “Aemetis continues to complete major milestones in our Five-Year Plan.This Use Permit and CEQA approval for the Riverbank sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel plant is the result of years of engineering and environmental work with the city and several government agencies, allowing us to finalise additional key permits in the next few months.”

The Riverbank facility will have about $500m invested into it and will create 800 jobs during construction, and provide an estimated 650 permanent direct and indirect jobs.

Aemetis has already signed $3.2bn SAF supply agreements with airlines; JetBlue Airlines, Delta Air Lines and the oneworld Alliance members. The SAF will initially be available at San Francisco International (SFO) and Los Angeles International (LAX) airports.

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