Shares of Rentech Inc. fell nearly 9 percent Wednesday morning after the developer of clean biofuels said that its loan guarantee application for a proposed renewable energy center in Florida was put on hold by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Los Angeles company said that the Port St. Joe Renewable Energy Project in Florida, which was set to break ground in August, was expected to produce about 55 megawatts of power from woody biomass. Most of the money required for the project is dependent on a DOE loan guarantee, but that guarantee is in doubt.

The company said that the DOE indicated that the decision to place the project’s application on hold was not a result of the quality of the project, but was due to a lack of appropriations to fund loan guarantees for all applications in the same program. The Port St. Joe Project will be evaluated if the agency gets the budget resources.

“With this unexpected news from the DOE, we will evaluate our best course of action for this project,” Chief Executive D. Hunt Ramsbottom said in a statement. Rentech has a biomass conversion facility under construction in Rialto, and recently announced plans for a project in Ontario, Canada.

The company earlier this week reported a narrower-than-expected loss, helped by strong demand and pricing for fertilizer products, along with low natural gas prices.

Shares were down 94 cents, or 8.8 percent, to 97 cents in midday trading on the New York Alternet.