CF Industries Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest ammonia producer, will invest $4.2 billion to build the world’s largest blue ammonia plant in Ascension Parish, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Tuesday.
The new plant will be located at RiverPlex MegaPark in Donaldsonville, the same industrial park where automaker Hyundai is building a $5.8 billion steel mill.
The facility is a joint venture between CF Industries Holdings, Inc., Japan’s JERA Co. and Mitsui & Co., a global investment firm.
The plant will use advanced carbon capture and sequestration technology, with carbon stored by 1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental. It will produce 1.4 million metric tons of low-carbon ammonia each year for export, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) said in a press release.
Producing ammonia has a large carbon footprint because it’s so energy-intensive and uses hydrogen from coal, oil or natural gas through processes that release carbon dioxide. In this case, the carbon would be captured and then transferred and injected underground, keeping it out of the atmosphere. But critics of blue ammonia say it’s a ploy to maintain dependence on fossil fuels, pollutes with methane and nitrous oxide and threatens the health of nearby communities. Another blue ammonia plant planned for St. Charles Parish is facing opposition from residents.
The new plant is expected to create more than 100 permanent jobs, paying an average salary of $110,000.
“Every time we stack up new jobs that are above the mean income level of families in Louisiana, we start to raise people from dependence to independence,” Landry said.
CF Industries has operated in Louisiana for over 50 years. Its existing Donaldsonville Complex is the largest ammonia production facility in the world.
This story is developing and will be updated.
