Gevo, a renewable chemicals and biofuels company, has acquired an ethanol production facility in Luverne, Minnesota, from Agri-Energy.

The plant produces isobutanol and is expected to provide 18 million gallons per year of production capacity for chemicals and fuels customers.

Engineering for the mechanical retrofitting of the plant has begun and isobutanol production is expected to begin early in 2012.

During most of the retrofit process, it is expected that the facility will continue to produce and sell ethanol, Gevo said.

Gevo has developed a process designed to fit into current ethanol production facilities, which also enables the production of isobutanol from numerous renewable feedstocks including corn, wheat, sorghum, barley, sugar cane and cellulosic feedstocks when biomass conversion becomes commercially available.