In the United States (US), Aemetis Inc., a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company, has announced that its Keyes subsidiary has signed an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with NPL Construction Co., a subsidiary of Centuri Holdings Inc., a US$2.6 billion revenue infrastructure services contractor, to install a Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) system at the company’s 65 million (US) gallon (≈ 246 million litre) per annum ethanol production facility in Keyes, California.
With an estimated total project cost of US$30 million, the MVR project is scheduled to be completed in Q2 2026.
The MVR project has received approximately US$19.7 million in tax credits and grants from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) upon recommendation by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), California Energy Commission (CEC), and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).
Once operational, the MVR system is projected to reduce natural gas usage at the Keyes plant by approximately 80 percent, generating an estimated US$32 million of incremental annual cash flow from energy savings, increasing Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits from a double-digit reduction in the carbon intensity of ethanol produced, and increasing transferable Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production tax credits.
We are pleased to expand our partnership with Aemetis in pursuit of a shared public-private commitment to advancing California’s clean energy goals through the production of renewable fuels. We have the people and capabilities to provide the energy infrastructure solutions required to build a more sustainable future, and look forward to our role in this project, said Dylan Hradek, President of Centuri US Gas.
The MVR project builds on Aemetis’s multi-year strategy to expand Dairy Renewable Natural Gas production, with 18 dairies operating or under construction and the recent approval of seven California Air Resources Board (CARB) LCFS pathways.
The MVR system strengthens California Ethanol operations through energy efficiency and margin expansion while capturing value from powerful regulatory tailwinds, including rising LCFS credit prices, Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production tax credit monetization, and anticipated adoption of E15 in California.
NPL’s construction of the MVR project is designed to deliver a high-return, high-impact upgrade to our California ethanol facility with minimal equity dilution. The MVR system is expected to materially improve operating margins, strengthen cash flow, and advance our commitment to reducing emissions from the renewable fuel we produce, said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
