KiOR is pursuing plans to double production capacity at its Columbus, Mississippi, cellulosic fuels facility through construction of a second facility. KiOR estimates that the project – Columbus II – will cost approximately $225 million, will break ground within 90 days of the Company raising sufficient equity and debt capital to commence the project, and will take approximately 18 months to construct and start up.
Once completed, KiOR expects that the Columbus II project will allow each Columbus facility to achieve greater yields, production capacity and feedstock flexibility than the original design basis for the existing Columbus facility, enabling KiOR to more quickly make progress towards its long-term goal of 92 gallons per bone dry ton of biomass.
KiOR also announced that it has received commitments from Khosla Ventures and Vinod Khosla for an aggregate commitment of up to $50 million as the cornerstone investor for the Columbus II project and to meet the Company’s ongoing liquidity needs.
The company built the first commercial scale cellulosic fuel facility in Columbus, MS, which started production in 2012. In July and August, the Columbus I facility produced 172,398 gallons of fuel, bringing the 2013 production total from the facility to 357,532 gallons through August 31, 2013. The ratio between gasoline, diesel and fuel oil produced during the most recent two months equaled to approximately 83% gasoline and diesel, with the remaining production as fuel oil. Production from Columbus I during July and August exceeded total second quarter production by nearly 40,000 gallons.
As of August 31, 2013, Columbus I has shipped 199,071 gallons of fuel since the beginning of 2013, about half of which (99,175 gallons) were shipped in July and August. The Company expects to continue shipping fuel produced in July and August during the month of September.
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