With the successful production of algal oil from the integrated facility this month, Solazyme has met its start-up goals for the facility on schedule.

The IBR was partially funded with a federal grant that Solazyme received from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in December 2009 to demonstrate integrated commercial-scale production of renewable algal-based fuels. The demonstration/ commercial-scale plant will have a nameplate capacity of two million liters of oil annually and will provide a platform for continued work on feedstock flexibility and scaling of new tailored oils into the marketplace.

To maximize capital efficiency, Solazyme bought the existing Peoria fermentation facility in May 2011 and began retrofitting the former PMP Fermentation Products plant into an integrated demonstration/commercial-scale facility that will produce renewable tailored triglyceride. Solazyme has been operating at semi-commercial scale through contract manufacturers since 2007. The company has seen linear productivity in its scale-up efforts, including multiple toll manufacturing facilities and multiple successful 128,000-liter scale fermentations at Peoria.

Solazyme, Inc. is a renewable oil and bioproducts company that transforms a range of low-cost plant-based sugars into high-value oils. Initially, Solazyme is focused on commercializing its products into three target markets: (1) fuels and chemicals, (2) nutrition and (3) skin and personal care.