Gevo loses money, awaits grant

Gevo Inc., Englewood, Colorado, has reported a net loss of more than $21 million in this year’s third quarter, bringing its year-to-date net loss total to $61million.

The company, which installs systems and operates facilities to convert agricultural byproducts and other materials to renewable natural gas (RNG) and other fuels, says its 2024 third quarter operating revenue came in at slightly less than $2 million, bringing its annual total to $11.2 million.

While the company’s operating expenses have been about six times greater than its revenue so far in 2024, it points to having “received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee with borrowing capacity of $1.6 billion (including capitalized interest during construction) from the United States Department of Energy (DOE)” as a critical part of its future.

Gevo says that potential grant, through the DOE Loan Programs Office, is for its planned Net-Zero 1 (NZ1) biofuels project in South Dakota. “We believe this significant milestone signals the strength of the project to finance the world’s first large-scale, net-zero-emissions alcohol-to-jet [fuel] production facility,” states the company.

The development of that project may be tied to Gevo’s general and administrative expense line item totaling more than $11 million—more than five times its revenue—in this year’s third quarter.

In comments accompanying its results, Gevo says the line item was considerable “primarily due to increases in personnel costs related to the hiring of highly qualified and skilled professionals, and professional consulting fees.”

The company also mentions two acquisitions in its latest earnings report, saying it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the ethanol production and carbon capture and sequestration assets of North Dakota-based Red Trail Energy LLC.

Gevo says it also has acquired Florida-based Cultivate Agricultural Intelligence LLC, which it says uses drone and satellite-based imaging and satellite mapping “to generate digital inventories for agriculture and land use.”

“Securing the DOE’s $1.6 billion loan guarantee conditional commitment is a transformative milestone for Gevo and our Net-Zero 1 project,” says Lynn Smull, Gevo’s chief financial officer.

Remarks Dr. Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s CEO, “Everything we do is tied together by the concept of carbon abatement as a means to create value in the clean energy market sector, profit for the company and value for our shareholders.”