Wabash Valley Resources (WVR), an affiliate of Phibro LLC, announced the closing of an investment from OGCI Climate Investments to develop a 1.5-1.75 million ton-per-year carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project located outside of West Terre Haute, Ind.
The project will capture and sequester close to 100% of the plant's carbon dioxide approximately 7,000 ft. below the surface into the saline sandstone aquifer known as the Mt. Simon Sandstone and will have the capacity to be expanded to 1.75 million tons of carbon dioxide per annum. WVR acquired a world-scale gasification plant in 2016, with plans to convert it to an ammonia production plant and CCS project.
Fertilizer plants are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, representing approximately 2% of carbon dioxide emissions globally. WVR's carbon capture and sequestration project will facilitate the production of fertilizer from the co-located WVR plant with a very low carbon footprint. Low-carbon ammonia production reduces the carbon intensity of ethanol produced in the U.S., making it economically more competitive in California and Europe, the company said.
Commenting on the transaction, Simon Greenshields, president and chief executive officer of Phibro LLC, said, "This innovative carbon capture and sequestration project will facilitate the production of green ammonia. Farmers and industrial end users alike will, for the first time, be presented with an opportunity to purchase ammonia produced in an environmentally conscious and sustainable manner and at an affordable price."
Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, added that CCS "will be a crucial part of the low-carbon economy. Our investment in Wabash Valley Resources is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to CCS as a tool to decarbonize the industrial sector. We look forward to working with Wabash Valley Resources team as they develop this project and demonstrate that CCS is available today as a tool to combat climate change."
WVR board member Nalin Gupta said, "We would like to thank the Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Indiana General Assembly for their support. Indiana's business-friendly environment and innovative culture were instrumental in facilitating the development of an ammonia and carbon sequestration project. The project shall utilize traditional clean energy financing vehicles, such as third-party tax equity."
The project was recently selected to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Carbon Storage Program. The program's objective is the advancement, development and validation of technologies that enable safe, cost-effective and permanent geologic storage of carbon dioxide.
