Gevo CEO says company making "great progress" towards Net-Zero 1 energy initiative as it wraps up 4Q

Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) revealed its fourth-quarter 2020 results on Wednesday that showed the company making quick progress toward its Net-Zero 1 green energy project.

The Englewood, Colorado-based company finished the three-month period to end December 31, 2020, with nearly $78.3 million in cash and equivalents.

Located in Lake Preston, South Dakota, Net-Zero 1 is expected to produce about 45 MGPY of energy-dense liquid hydrocarbons that should have a net-zero greenhouse gas footprint across the whole of the life cycle when burned as transportation fuels.

READ: Gevo flushed with $535M in cash and no significant debt as it announces key business updates and initiatives for 2021

But as of February 26, Gevo had approximately $530.6 million in cash and no significant debt – enough to fund the project equity required for Net-Zero 1. The group closed a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules of an aggregate of 43,750,000 shares of common stock at $8 each to raise $321.7 million in January 2021.

“Net-Zero 1 is a first of a kind, off-the-grid type of plant where we are putting great effort into making Net-Zero 1 the most sustainable plant it can be,” Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber said in a statement.

“I’m glad we have the customers secured, Citigroup to help us with the debt financing, and that the economics of Net-Zero 1 are attractive at this stage. I’m also pleased that we are making progress on filling up production capacity at Net-Zero 2 as evidenced by the recent SAS contract.  We are making great progress, fast.”

Revenue for the quarter was $0.5 million compared with $6.9 million in the same period in 2019 as a result of the suspension of ethanol production due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and an “unfavourable commodity environment,” according to the company.

Hydrocarbon revenue came in at $0.4 million compared with $1 million in the same period in 2019 as a result of decreased shipments of finished products from its demonstration plant at the South Hampton Facility, Gevo told shareholders.

The firm reported a net loss of $18.1 million compared to $6.8 million during the comparable year-ago period.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors