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$1.5B DOE loan to help revitalize Indiana coal community

The investment aims to help revitalize a community deeply affected by coal-fired plant retirements.
$1.5B DOE loan to help revitalize Indiana coal community
(Source: Wabash Valley Resources.)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.56 billion to Wabash Valley Resources, which would help finance a commercial-scale waste-to-ammonia production facility for fertilizer, using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology in West Terre Haute, Indiana. 

The project would repurpose an industrial gasifier to utilize petroleum coke while permanently storing carbon dioxide to produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia annually. LPO’s conditional commitment would be part of a total investment of $2.4 billion that Wabash Valley Resources would secure for the project through private investment. 

The investment aims to help revitalize a community deeply affected by coal-fired plant retirements. The initiative is expected to create over 1,100 direct and indirect jobs, Wabash Valley Resources said. It would also create at least 500 union construction jobs.

Wabash Valley Resources would be the first domestic producer located in the Corn Belt to produce low-carbon ammonia for local farmers and co-ops in the region. This low-carbon ammonia would be cost-competitive compared to existing ammonia imports, DOE said, which could help drive down costs for local businesses and consumers. The market for ammonia can be volatile, subjecting farmers to price fluctuations — for example, the Russian invasion of Ukraine significantly increased ammonia costs for U.S. farmers.

Ammonia-based fertilizer is an important element of the U.S. agricultural system, but its production is a significant contributor to climate change, DOE said. Globally, ammonia manufacturing accounts for 1% to 2% of all CO2 emissions.

Workers at the Wabash Valley Resources facility are expected to be represented by several unions, such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Boilermakers Local 374, Bricklayers Local 4, Cement Masons Local 692, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 157, and Operating Engineers Local 841. 

Wabash Valley Resources also plans to engage with four local colleges that may offer training in the skills necessary to operate the anhydrous ammonia plant: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Indiana State University, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and Ivy Tech Community College. The company will also be pursuing a collaborative program for pre-employment testing and certification.

While the DOE’s conditional commitment indicates its intent to finance the project, DOE and Wabash Valley Resources must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before DOE enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan guarantee.