Air Products Announces $4.5 Billion Blue Hydrogen Clean Energy Complex

BATON ROUGE, La. — Gov. John Bel Edwards and Air Products’ Chairman, President and CEO Seifi Ghasemi announced the company will develop a $4.5 billion clean energy complex near Burnside in Ascension Parish. This will also be the world’s largest permanent carbon dioxide sequestration endeavor to date. Air Products will construct a blue hydrogen manufacturing complex to produce more than 750 million standard cubic feet per day of blue hydrogen, with carbon dioxide from the manufacturing process captured and permanently sequestered. The plant will be the first carbon-capture project in Louisiana for Air Products, a world-leading industrial gas manufacturer that provides hydrogen and other gases to refineries, petrochemical plants and other customers in Louisiana, across the Gulf Coast and around the globe.

The project will create 170 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $93,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates it will result in 413 new indirect jobs, for a total of 583 new jobs for Ascension Parish and the Capital Region. Air Products also will retain 334 existing jobs in the state. The company estimates the project will create more than 2,000 construction jobs over three years.

“This is a major industrial investment that will create quality manufacturing jobs while limiting environmental impacts, a goal envisioned by my Climate Initiatives Task Force,” Gov. Edwards said. “Carbon capture and sequestration are important to Louisiana’s efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining jobs and growing our manufacturing base. This project is a clear demonstration of our ability to grow the Louisiana economy while lowering the carbon footprint of industry.”

“Blue” products are made using hydrocarbons as a feedstock, with carbon dioxide from the production process captured for permanent sequestration. Carbon dioxide is recognized as a major source of human-caused emissions contributing to climate change. Carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, keeps the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere by capturing it at the production site and storing it in reservoirs far underground.

About 95 percent of the carbon dioxide generated at the Air Products facility will be captured, compressed and transported by pipeline to multiple inland sequestration sites located along a pipeline corridor extending up to 35 miles to the east of the complex. More than five million metric tons per year of carbon dioxide will be permanently sequestered in geologic pore space secured from the State of Louisiana about a mile below ground. Air Products has received approval from the State Mineral and Energy Board for the permanent sequestration of the carbon dioxide.

“Air Products is excited to announce this investment in clean energy with the governor of Louisiana,” Ghasemi said. “This landmark megaproject will not only create jobs but make Louisiana and Ascension Parish leaders in the U.S. clean energy transition. Air Products is fully invested in and committed to projects that leverage our build-own-operate, technology, financial and sustainability capabilities, and this project brings all of those core strengths together. We look forward to building on our long partnership with Louisiana and constructing a facility that will serve as a leading example of clean energy production around the globe.”

The project is expected to be operational in 2026.

“Ascension Parish is committed to being a leader in the new clean energy economy and values our continued relationship with Air Products,” Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment said. “We appreciate their investment in industrial gas production using carbon capture and sequestration technology. This project will not only make a significant investment in our parish but will also add high-quality employment opportunities for the residents in our community.”

To secure the proposed project, the State of Louisiana offered Air Products a competitive incentive package that includes the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart^® – the nation’s No. 1 state workforce development program for the past 12 years. Air Products also was offered a performance-based grant of up to $5 million to offset plant and pipeline construction costs; that grant is payable over five years, subject to the company meeting specified investment and job creation benchmarks. The company also is expected to utilize the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs.

“The development of this large-scale clean hydrogen project highlights our strategic geographic assets as we position ourselves to become the clean energy capital of the U.S. Gulf Coast,” said Kate MacArthur, president and CEO of the Ascension Economic Development Corp. “Investments from companies like Air Products are essential to reducing carbon pollution in a major and sustainable way.”

“The Capital Region is at the leading edge of the transitional energy sector, and Air Products’ decision to build one of the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen projects here underscores that the talent, infrastructure, and business climate is turn-key for clean energy investments of a global scale,” said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “We congratulate our partners in Ascension Parish and look forward to working together to support Air Products.”

About Air Products
Air Products is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for 80 years. Focused on serving energy, environment and emerging markets, the company provides essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the global leader in the supply of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment. The company develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest industrial gas projects, including: gasification projects that sustainably convert abundant natural resources into syngas for the production of high-value power, fuels and chemicals; carbon capture projects; and world-scale carbon-free hydrogen projects supporting global transportation and the energy transition. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

About LED
Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for strengthening the state’s business environment and creating a more vibrant Louisiana economy. LED cultivates jobs and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana, and promotes business opportunity for employers of all sizes. In 2020, LED attracted 58 new economic development projects representing over 11,600 new jobs, 8,600 retained jobs and more than $12.7 billion in new capital investment. LED’s Small Business Services team, in conjunction with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network, assisted more than 17,500 Louisiana small businesses and entrepreneurs in 2020. For more information, visit OpportunityLouisiana.com.