Construction begins on port infrastructure improvement projects to support Louisiana Green Fuels

Photo: Business Wire

Strategic Biofuels joined the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson and Port of Columbia representatives for a groundbreaking ceremony to signal the beginning of construction at the port on several infrastructure-improvement projects funded by a $15 million grant from the DOTD Port Priority Program.

Construction of the first project will be led by Progressive Construction Co., which was recently awarded a contract from the port, and will begin in December.

Louisiana Green Fuels project team members from contractors Koch, Hatch, ESI, HGA, Performance, and MMLH were also in attendance at the groundbreaking.

To date, the port has received nearly $17 million in federal and state grants in support of the LGF project. Strategic Biofuels has received the highest tax-exempt bond allocations from the state of Louisiana over the past two years and unanimous support from Caldwell Parish government and the broader community.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has been a staunch advocate of the LGF project since Strategic Biofuels first announced Caldwell Parish as its home.

“I’ve been thrilled to see the rapid progress Louisiana Green Fuels has generated over the past year,” Edwards said. “On behalf of our great state, we look forward to continuing to support the Strategic Biofuels team as they continue to move this project forward. It will have a long-lasting impact on northeast Louisiana, the country and the world.”

The Delta Regional Authority recently awarded a $508,900 grant to help with infrastructure improvements at the Port of Columbia, which will positively impact the LGF project. These funds are being used to supplement the PPP funds that will widen and strengthen Riverton Camp Road, the primary access road, and complete an essential first step that will sustain construction of the $2.8 billion LGF project.

This latest award to the port follows an announcement that the State Bond Commission and the Louisiana Community Development Authority granted their approval to LGF for a $1.1 billion tax-exempt bond cap to support the project. The port was also awarded a $1 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA through their Port Security Grant Program.

The LGF project will use forestry waste to produce renewable fuel and electric power while capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide produced, resulting in Life Cycle Associates scoring the carbon intensity at minus 294. All of the carbon in the fuel and in the sequestered CO2 was originally captured directly from the air by the trees. The project’s test-well program proved that all the CO2 from this first and future plants can be sequestered, maximizing both the 45Q sequestration tax credits and the California LCFS credits. All of the fuel and the environmental credits are covered by a 20-year offtake agreement.

“We are proud to have all levels of government at the local, state and federal levels backing the Louisiana Green Fuels project and we are thankful for the immense support,” said Strategic Biofuels CEO Paul Schubert. “Funding and support from all sources is essential to the success of what we are trying to accomplish, and we are full-steam ahead on bringing online the world’s first and most deeply carbon-negative renewable diesel fuel plant.”

The plant is expected to produce approximately 33 million gallons of renewable diesel per year.