About $2 billion of the project’s cost will come from debt, including the Department of Energy loan and tax-exempt bond allocations from the state, Schubert said. The rest of the project, about $800 million, will be funded through equity financing.
In December, the company held a groundbreaking ceremony with state officials for infrastructure upgrades at the Port of Columbia, where Louisiana Green Fuels will be built. That work will be financed by a $15 million grant from the Department of Transportation and Development’s Port Priority Program, as well as a $509,000 grant from the Delta Regional Authority.
“We believe the loan guarantee program is a shining example of the US government’s commitment to decarbonizing the transportation sector,” Schubert said in a statement announcing the loan application invitation.
Though the Title XVII Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program has been around since 2005, the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 unleashed another $40 billion for the program.
Eligible projects for Title XVII loans must deploy “new or significantly improved technology” that either reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Department of Energy.
Strategic Biofuels, an Olathe, Kansas-based firm, has touted its production process for Louisiana Green Fuels as “carbon negative” because of its lower-carbon intensity compared to traditional diesel.
The plant will convert forestry waste — such as thinnings from branches, pine needles and treetops — into renewable diesel and renewable naphtha, a common solvent and ingredient for blended fuels. Strategic Biofuels has said abundant forestry feedstocks are available near the plant site.
Company officials have also said the diesel created at Louisiana Green Fuels would release fewer contaminants into the air when burned.
The project will also rely on carbon capture to reduce its emissions. Strategic Biofuels has said it completed a successful carbon capture injection well test at the Caldwell Parish site in August 2021.
Leave a Reply