Koch units sign on to green hydrogen project slated for Louisiana

Koch Engineered Solutions said that two of its companies, Optimized Process Designs and Koch Project Solutions, will partner with Fidelis Infrastructure to develop the Grön Fuels renewable energy complex in Louisiana.

The $9.2 billion multi-year program will produce green hydrogen, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuels, and bio-plastic feedstocks. The project also includes biogenic carbon capture and sequestration.

The project is expected to produce the equivalent of 1,000 MW of green hydrogen produced by electrolysis, with a pathway to net negative CO2 carbon footprint through the use of biogenic carbon capture and sequestration.

The Koch business units will provide engineering, procurement, and construction expertise, as well as project management services.

A final investment decision is expected in 2021, and will determine the final cost of the project’s first phase.

The project would be built in stages over nine years at a site leased from the deepwater port of Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River. The first phase would involve a capital investment of over $1.25 billion and would produce up to 60,000 barrels per day of low-carbon renewable diesel. Once completed in 2030, the site would be one of the largest renewable fuel complexes in the world., with access to markets in North America and Europe.

Houston-based Fidelis Infrastructure is an asset management firm specializing in renewable energy, low-carbon transportation fuels, sustainable and circular economy infrastructure, and digital infrastructure.

State economic development officials began formal project discussions with Fidelis about the Grön Fuels project in March 2020. The state offered an incentive package that includes a performance-based grant of up to $15 million, payable at up to $2.5 million per year for six years, for project development and infrastructure. The company also is expected to use the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.