Flagship Ventures will invest in Red Rock and will join the company’s board of directors. It will also advise Red Rock on future fundraising efforts.
Estimated to cost $200m, the refinery has obtained a $70m DPA Title III award from the US Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy last year.
Construction on the refinery is scheduled to begin and complete this year.
Red Rock’s refinery will transform waste biomass from forests and sawmills into domestically produced jet, diesel and naphtha fuels, by using a proprietary process.
The fuel making process begins with the gasification of woody biomass to produce syngas, which is then cleaned and sent to a Fischer-Tropsch unit for conversion into a renewable syncrude.
The syncrude is refined to produce renewable jet, diesel and naphtha fuels.
The new facility will convert approximately 140,000 dry tons of woody biomass into 15 million gallons of renewable, liquid transportation fuels annually.
Southwest Airlines has signed an agreement in 2014 to purchase approximately three million gallons of Red Rock’s renewable jet fuel annually.
Flagship partner Brian Baynes said: "With its innovative technology and strong team, Red Rock has created a market-leading position in the woody biomass conversion sector.
"Their product saves money for customers and offers a stable alternative to the volatile crude oil market, while reducing carbon emissions – a growing priority for companies. We expect increasing demand for renewable fuels and we are excited to support Red Rock as they bring high quality, domestically produced biofuels to market."
Red Rock plans to expand its team and geographical presence by establishing additional refineries in 2015.
