US Blue Point One $3.7 Billion Low-Carbon Ammonia Project Breaks Ground

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 26, the Blue Point One low-carbon ammonia project, jointly invested by CF Industries, JERA, and Mitsui & Co., commenced construction in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, USA. The project's low-carbon ammonia facility is expected to involve an investment of approximately $3.7 billion, with a planned average annual production capacity of 1.4 million tons, and is scheduled to begin production in 2029. CF Industries holds a 40% stake, JERA holds 35%, and Mitsui & Co. holds 25%, with the three parties sharing the engineering, procurement, and construction investment costs in proportion to their respective shareholdings.

The project adopts the autothermal reforming (ATR) process and is equipped with carbon capture, dehydration, and compression facilities. Carbon dioxide generated during the production process will be captured and transported for permanent underground storage. The project is designed to capture and permanently store approximately 98% of the CO2 from the production process; the relevant storage agreement has a term of 25 years, with plans to transport and store approximately 2.3 million tons of CO2 annually to the Pelican Sequestration Hub in Louisiana. A joint venture formed by 1PointFive and Enbridge is responsible for the related transportation and storage infrastructure, with Enbridge handling the construction and operation of the pipeline connecting customer facilities to the storage hub.

Blue Point One completed its final investment decision in April 2025, with engineering design, equipment procurement, and pre-construction preparation commencing in the second quarter of 2025. The project obtained the permits required for civil construction at both the Louisiana state and U.S. federal levels in July 2026, and entered the construction phase in August. As of June 30, 2026, the project had accumulated approximately $450 million in capital expenditures, of which total capital expenditures for the first two quarters of 2026 amounted to $143 million. CF Industries estimates that approximately one-third of the facility's investment cost involves imported materials, with the majority planned to arrive in Louisiana in 2028.

In addition to the $3.7 billion low-carbon ammonia production facility, CF Industries plans to invest an additional $550 million over the next four years to build shared and scalable infrastructure, including production support, storage, and ship loading facilities. Linde will also invest more than $400 million to build, own, and operate a large-scale air separation unit at the project site to supply oxygen and nitrogen to the low-carbon ammonia facility, which is also scheduled to commence operations in 2029.

Once the project is operational, CF Industries, JERA, and Mitsui & Co. will offtake the low-carbon ammonia produced by Blue Point One in proportion to their respective shareholdings. JERA plans to supply its offtake to Japan's Hekinan Thermal Power Station and manufacturing customers in the Chubu region, and has already signed time charter agreements for four ammonia carriers, with plans to transport approximately 500,000 tons of low-carbon ammonia annually to the Hekinan Thermal Power Station. The related supply chain is scheduled to become operational around fiscal year 2029.