Aemetis Allocated $10.5 Million IRA Section 48C Tax Credits by DOE and IRS for Biofuels Plant Efficiency Projects

CUPERTINO, CA, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX), a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on low and negative carbon intensity products, today announced that it received an allocation of $10.5 million of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the first phase of IRA Section 48C awards.

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The Aemetis Five Year Plan projects that Aemetis will receive a total of $450 million of IRA tax credits to support funding of its renewable fuels projects. In October 2023, Aemetis completed the sale of $63 million of IRA tax credits to a single buyer and received $55 million in funding.

Aemetis was awarded the $10.5 million allocation of transferable tax credits to support the Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) energy efficiency project and other energy efficiency projects at the Aemetis Keyes ethanol production facility in California. The competitive process for funding was managed by the DOE as an advisor to the IRS which selected recipients based on an extensive and detailed review of each project.

“The Inflation Reduction Act funds new job creation and supports new investment in projects in almost every state,” stated Eric McAfee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aemetis, Inc. “Late last year we demonstrated the conversion of IRA tax credits into funding for our projects, so monetization of the tax credits supports long term debt financing and, in the case of the MVR project, is expected to significantly increase operating cash flow from our existing biofuels plant in California.”

The MVR project and related upgrades are expected to cost about $30 million, with design engineering already completed and equipment procurement underway for planned installation in the first half of 2025. In addition to the $10.5 million of IRA tax credits, Aemetis already has been awarded $6 million of grant funding by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and has been approved for up to $3.2 million of additional funding from the Pacific Gas & Electric Energy Efficiency Program, pending project completion and verification of energy savings.

The MVR project is expected to reduce fossil natural gas use at the Keyes plant by 80% and lower the carbon intensity of the biofuels produced by the Keyes plant by more than 20%, which together is expected to substantially improve operating cash flow.

The Inflation Reduction Act established Section 48C tax credit grants to fund energy efficiency and low carbon intensity renewable energy projects. The Section 48C tax credits are transferable from project developers to entities with income tax liabilities in order to provide funding to projects.

About Aemetis

Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Aemetis is a renewable natural gas, renewable fuel and biochemicals company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of innovative technologies that replace petroleum-based products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Founded in 2006, Aemetis is operating and actively expanding a California biogas digester network and pipeline system to convert dairy waste gas into Renewable Natural Gas. Aemetis owns and operates a 65 million gallon per year ethanol production facility in California’s Central Valley near Modesto that supplies about 80 dairies with animal feed. Aemetis owns and operates a 60 million gallon per year production facility on the East Coast of India producing high quality distilled biodiesel and refined glycerin for customers in India and Europe. Aemetis is developing the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel fuel biorefinery in California to utilize renewable hydrogen, hydroelectric power, and renewable oils to produce low carbon intensity renewable jet and diesel fuel. For additional information about Aemetis, please visit www.aemetis.com.