French President Emmanuel Macron announced on May 13 that a new low-carbon fertilizer plant will start construction in the country in 2027 for a commissioning date of 2030.
The project, estimated at €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) in capital expenditure, will produce 500,000 mt of nitrogen fertilizers in the Hauts de France region, which will cover approximately 10% of France’s total fertilizer consumption. The plant will use electricity generated from nuclear and renewable sources, emitting reduced levels of CO2.
“This is a world first for the decarbonization of our agriculture and for our food sovereignty, which will make it possible to avoid the emission of nearly one million tons of CO2 per year, and to reduce our imports of nitrogen fertilizers by 30%,” said Industry and Energy Minister Roland Lescure.
The project is led by Spanish company FertigHy and comprises a consortium of investors and manufacturers from the energy and agri-food sectors, including Spanish solar energy specialist RIC Energy, Italian engineering firm Maire Tecnimont, Germany’s Siemens Financial Services, French agricultural trading group In Vivo, the Soufflet group, and Dutch brewer Heineken.
“Running on renewable and low-carbon electricity, this plant is a decisive step towards the production of European-made fertilizers and towards reducing imports of mineral nitrogen fertilizers,” said FertigHy CEO José Antonio de las Heras.
France imported 1.7 million mt of UAN, 800,000 mt of CAN, and 150,000 mt of ammonium nitrate in 2023.