Sunoco Ethanol, a unit of energy conglomerate Sunoco, last June bought the plant in upstate Volney for $8.5m, a fraction of its reported $200m construction cost at an auction ordered by a US bankruptcy court.
The plant, located at a former brewery, opened in summer 2008 but was unable to function at its nameplate capacity due to piping design problems.
The problems resulted in bacterial infestations that hindered the enzymes and yeasts that convert corn to ethanol.
