Since 2017, Velocys had announced intentions to establish a bio-fuel plant in Natchez, Mississippi. However, those plans have now been formally abandoned.
Local Response and Opportunity
Chandler Russ, Executive Director of Natchez Inc., affirmed that despite Velocys’s exit, the partnership had been positive. He noted that Natchez and Adams County now boast one of the region’s best-positioned industrial sites located on the Mississippi River.
“We’re truly excited about the completion of the levee… it’s been a long-term infrastructure effort years in the making.”
Thanks to a collaborative effort involving state, federal, and private resources, the levee project secured in excess of $7 million to become a reality.
The Site: Ready for Development
With the levee now complete, Russ described the site as a “true plug-and-play” venue: a fully protected 110-acre tract beside the Mississippi, primed for industrial use and low in development risk.
“With the levee now complete, we believe we have one of the premier 110-acre industrial sites on the Mississippi River — low-risk, fully protected, and essentially ready for development.”
Why Velocys Pulled Out
Velocys faced significant financial challenges while developing technology to convert woody biomass into jet fuel. On the verge of bankruptcy, the firm was acquired in January 2024 and taken private. At the same time, the company’s strategic priorities shifted:
- A stronger emphasis on advancing its European projects
- The changing landscape of green-energy capital markets since the election
- Larger-scale projects becoming more complex to finance and execute
These factors combined to make the Natchez project less viable for the company.
Public Funds and Investments
Importantly, neither Natchez nor Adams County incurred any losses of public money during Velocys’s exploration of the site. Moreover, Velocys injected over $1 million in option payments to the county and added approximately $1.2 million toward the levee’s completion—bringing the total non-refundable investment to $2.2 million.
“These investments have strengthened our site infrastructure and positioned Adams County for future large‐scale industrial and renewable energy opportunities.”
Russ emphasised that the levee was built as a key piece of public infrastructure to ensure the property is marketable for industrial uses.
