Verenium to start building first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant

Cambridge, Mass.-based Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM) announced today that it plans to begin building the world's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the second half of the year.

Florida plans to give Verenium a $7 million grant toward the estimated price tag of $250 million to $300 million for the facility to be built in Highlands County. Verenium said construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months.

Once commissioned, the plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 36 million gallons of ethanol a year produced from biomass, such as grass.

The company estimated the facility will create 140 jobs.

The company's stock was up nearly 5 percent at the close of trading today.

Earlier this week, Verenium said it regained compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements. The company had received delisting warnings from NASDAQ because its market capitalization fell below the minimum threshold of $50 million. Verenium's value has since rebounded, ending today at $91.1 million.

In March, Verenium commissioning phase at its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Jennings, La. (see Verenium starts up demonstration cellulosic facility).

In August, Verenium announced a partnership with London's BP (NYSE: BP) to license existing intellectual property from each company and to jointly develop intellectual property in cellulosic ethanol production (see Water, materials and biofuel get some cash).

Verenium has developed cellulosic ethanol and specialty enzymes. The company has also studied termites among many microbiological alternatives to produce fuel (see Termites in the gas tank).