Ascension Parish, the home of CF Industries Holdings Inc.’s giant Donaldsonville nitrogen complex, is under evaluation as the site for the $2 billion blue ammonia plant planned by CF and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. The initial announcement about the project only stated that the plant would be in the US Gulf Coast region (GM May 6, p. 1).
The export-oriented plant would produce 1.7 million tons per year of blue ammonia. Earlier this month, CF announced a $198.5 million plan to add carbon capture and sequestration capability to its existing ammonia production facility in Donaldsonville (GM Aug. 12, p. 29).
Louisiana Economic Development (LED) announced on Aug. 17 that Ascension Parish was under evaluation. LED estimates the project would result in 311 indirect jobs, for a total of 414 new jobs in the Capital Region. It would create 103 new local jobs, with over $10 million in permanent payroll and significant local economic activity during construction.
LED said to secure the project, the State of Louisiana is offering CF a competitive incentive package that includes the services of LED FastStart, which was recently ranked the No. 1 statewide workforce development program in the nation.
Additionally, CF would be eligible for a performance-based award of up to $6 million to be paid out over four years to reimburse verified project development and infrastructure expenditures. The company is also expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
“This massive proposed investment from CF Industries would create good-paying jobs and strengthen Louisiana’s position as a leader in the clean energy transition,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards. “This would be another big step toward our goal of making Louisiana carbon-neutral by 2050. We thank CF Industries for its continued commitment to Louisiana, and look forward to working with company, parish, and regional economic development leaders to move the project forward.”
“CF Industries has long appreciated the partnership we have had with the State of Louisiana and Ascension Parish, both as we have expanded our operations over the years and now as we decarbonize our production processes and consider new capacity growth. We look forward to working with them further as we continue to evaluate our proposed blue ammonia production facility,” said Tony Will, CF President and CEO.
CF and Mitsui expect to begin a front-end engineering design (FEED) study once the site and technology provider for the new plant are finalized. A FEED study typically takes 9-12 months from the start date to complete.
A final investment decision by the companies is expected to occur in 2023. Construction and commissioning of a new world-scale capacity ammonia plant typically takes approximately four years from that point.