Debottlenecking initiative at its Gevo North Dakota ("GND") facility in Richardton, North Dakota, including the successful commissioning of a new beer degassing system ahead of schedule which will capture and sequester more CO₂. The debottlenecking will result in a 10-15 percent increase in GND output and returns and closely follows the successful commissioning of a steam turbine project in August.

The debottlenecking program is designed to enhance operating efficiency and increase production capacity at GND as the facility advances toward its targeted production capacity of approximately 75 million gallons per year. The project includes three primary upgrades:

  • Addition of a third liquefaction tank to expand capacity and improve the yield of corn starch to sugars
  • Addition of a fifth fermenter to increase fermentation residence time to enable the production of more ethanol and CO₂
  • Installation of a beer degassing system to capture and sequester additional CO₂ from the ethanol process

The CO₂ beer degassing system is currently being commissioned, several weeks earlier than originally planned. This equipment will enable GND to increase CO₂ recovery, unlock distillation capacity, and lower the facility CI score.

"This milestone represents another step forward in our efforts to optimize GND and unlock additional value from an already strong operating asset," said Gevo Chief Executive Officer Paul Bloom. "Our debottlenecking program is focused on practical, high-return improvements that enhance production efficiency, carbon capture performance and overall facility economics."

Construction and installation activities associated with liquefaction and fermentation continue to progress on schedule and both assets are expected to be operational by the end of 2026.

GND also recently completed the commissioning of a steam turbine project. The project lowers the plant energy consumption by optimizing the steam usage inside the plant while lowering the amount of purchased electricity. This project was already started prior to Gevo's acquisition of the facility and was successfully integrated into plant operations in August.

The steam turbine and debottlenecking project are both examples of Gevo’s ability to unlock process capacity while operating safely and efficiently. These projects are laying the groundwork for the planned 75Mgpy expansion of GND which is anticipated to approximately double the output and returns from GND and is expected to be completed in 2028.