Cellana commercial production is the next step for the algae-based energy firm, which said Friday it will wind down research in Kailua-Kona after hitting oil yield targets that it believes can support profitable operations.
The company announced it will sell its 6-acre research site at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority campus on Hawaii island to Cyanotech Corp., which operates a neighboring 90-acre microalgae facility that produces nutritional products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Based in San Diego and Hawaii, Cellana will lay off its 15 employees as it shifts from research to planning a commercial-scale plant.
CEO Martin Sabarsky said continued research and development no longer made sense because the company achieved oil yields that support commercial viability. “We’re done with the R&D phase,” he said. “That was the whole point of the facility. We’re ready to commercialize.”
Cellana commercial production target at NELHA
Cellana said it averaged about 2 million dollars a year in research spending over the past seven years and has invested more than 100 million dollars since inception, supported by federal grants and private capital.
The company’s next goal is a commercial plant on 54 acres at the same state technology park in Kailua-Kona. Cellana said it has a preliminary, nonbinding lending commitment of 27 million dollars for the project, though additional financing will be required. If funding is secured, construction is more than a year away, according to Sabarsky.
This marks the company’s second push toward commercial production. An earlier attempt shortly after its founding did not materialize.
Cellana began in 2007 as a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Hawaii-based HR BioPetroleum Inc., focused on producing fuel oil from microalgae. Its Kona demonstration site, which includes open seawater ponds, was used to test strains and production methods.
In 2008, the firm announced a memorandum of understanding with Maui Electric Co. and Alexander & Baldwin Inc. to develop a commercial algae facility on Maui to supply biofuel for an existing power plant. In 2011, Shell exited the venture, even though Cellana said it had secured the necessary permits for the Maui project.
In recent years, alongside fuel applications, Cellana advanced work on products including animal feed, pigments, proteins, and nutritional oils, which the company now considers successful.
