Agri-Energy to reopen May 1

Gevo Inc. is seeking to hire 20 employees for a May 1 reopening, according to Agri-Energy plant manager Phil Cherry.
“We are excited to get things back to ‘normal’,” he said March 3. “Whatever that is — so we must put quotes around normal.”
In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced Agri-Energy to stop producing isobutanol, a jet fuel made from corn.
On March 27, 2020, plant officials laid off 27 employees due to the pandemic’s negative effects on market prices.
Last week, however, Cherry confirmed 20 individuals will be rehired at the Luverne plant. Positions include boiler operator, lab technician, maintenance technician and process operator, according to the Gevo.com website.
Cherry said if key people are hired and trained in April, the plant would meet the May 1 reopening timeframe. Job postings were made on Feb. 25 and interviews have already started, he said.
Since the Luverne plant’s closure almost a year ago, Gevo officials have secured a long-term renewable hydrocarbons purchase and sale agreement with Trafigura Group to provide global customers with the low-carbon jet fuel produced at Luverne.
Trafigura is expected to take delivery of 25 million gallons annually including the renewable aviation fuel starting in 2023.
To fulfill the upcoming orders, Gevo is raising capital and, as of September 2020, has raised $46 million so far.
The funds will be used to continue retrofitting the Luverne plant to use renewable electricity and renewable natural gas to produce renewable gasoline, jet and diesel fuels.
The capital would also assist in the construction of three new production plants, including one near Lake Preston, South Dakota, where 240 acres were recently purchased.
The March 3 hiring announcement comes just weeks after Cherry wrote a letter assuring the community that parent company Gevo was not abandoning the Luverne production plant.
In his Feb. 11 letter to the Luverne community, Cherry mentioned that Agri-Energy was seeking a project manager to assist the Luverne location to use renewable natural gas from dairy cows to lessen the plant’s dependence on natural gas derived from fossil fuels.
The first part of Gevo’s green energy plan was completed in March 2020, just before the plant closing.
Gevo partnered with Juhl Energy of Chanhassen to construct two 2.5-megawatt wind turbines. The turbines came on line for electricity production in April 2020.
The Rock County Wind Fuel project generated 12,934 megawatt hours in 2020, according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue.