Louisiana residents broadly support $7.5b ACE blue ammonia plant

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Local businesses and residents on Thursday appeared to be broadly behind the new $7.5 billion Ascension Clean Energy (ACE) blue ammonia plant planned to be built at the RiverPlex MegaPark on the west bank of Ascension Parish, Louisiana.

But some community members expressed reservations about transparency issues regarding cumulative emissions from the project, and other environmental concerns. Regulatory approvals for the project are expected by early 2025 with a final investment decision (FID) by late 2025 with production planned to start in 2029.

During a public hearing held between the Department of Environmental Quality Louisiana on Thursday, a number of local residents affirmed their support for the project which aims to produce 2.4 million mt of blue ammonia in its initial phase, starting in 2029. Output could rise to a 7.2 million mt blue ammonia capacity in subsequent years.

Donaldsonville's Mayor, Leroy Sullivan, who spoke towards the end of the hearing on Thursday was one of the most vocal supporters of the blue ammonia plant. The mayor said the project was an answer to his prayers, and would bring economic growth to Donaldsonville.

ACE said on Thursday that the project, which will be located next to the new $4.5 billion CF Blue Point ammonia plant and a $5.8 Hyundai steel site,  is expected to reach FID in early-2026, with construction to start in the same year.

Those in support of the project, said the plant - which is being developed by Clean Hydrogen Works, in collaboration with Denbury, Mitsui and Hafnia - would bring much needed employment opportunities to the residents living near the RiverPlex site.

Overall support for the project appears to be rooted in the potential for job creation for residents of the Modesta area, which surrounds the 1,700 acre site that the plant will be built on.

One local resident noted that 52% of residents living in the west bank of Ascension Parish lived on incomes that were considered to be below the poverty line, while average incomes residents on the east bank of the Parish, which is home to the industrial mega-site of Geismar, had average house incomes that were nearly $70,000 higher.

According to a report from Gonzales Weekly Citizen on Friday, ACE "has touted the potential of the project to create 350 new permanent jobs with an average annual salary of $116,000 plus benefits, along with construction and indirect jobs".

But some members of the community expressed strong reservations about the project and asked for ACE's permit applications to be denied or revised.

For the most part, business owners and local officials are welcoming the project.

"I have been praying for over 20 years for the city of Donaldsonville to grow, for this area to prosper, and god has heard my prayer," mayor Leroy Sullivan said in his speech on Thursday.

"I'm telling you, this is the opportunity for our community. And if we miss this, if we sleep on it, then it may be another 20 years, it may be another 30, it may be even longer than that, before an opportunity comes like the ones that we have," Sullivan said.

The mayor said the projects were needed to support the economy of the west bank, which could then support other business like retail and food outlets, which struggle to survive in the area.

"I would ask the question. You don't want CF, you don't want ACE. You don't want Hyundai. What do you want?" the mayor said.

Senior VP of development for Clean Hydrogen Works, Vee Godley, said that residents overall were in favour of the plant. "I feel like we've gotten mostly positive responses from people in the area," Godley said.