UPDATED: 01/01/2016 — see Change Log
OWNER: Green Valley Chemical Corporation
PROJECT: Ammonia plant
SUMMARY STATUS:
In operation since 1966, Green Valley Chemical's Creston plant is the smallest stand-alone commercial ammonia plant in the US.
UPDATED: 10/02/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Cronus Fertilizers (Cronus Chemicals LLC)
PROJECT: Greenfield ammonia plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Financing phase
In October 2018, Cronus announced that it had awarded an EPC contract, with revised project scope. Awaiting financial close, before construction can begin; no groundbreaking yet. In August 2017, Cronus had also announced a reconfigured project, with a reduced capacity, lower capex, and a more realistic schedule. Also in 2017, its original air permit expired, after many extensions, and Cronus must now apply for and receive a new air permit before construction can begin. This project has been repeatedly postponed over the years.
UPDATED: 10/16/2017 — see Change Log
OWNER: Koch Fertilizer Dodge City LLC (Koch Industries Inc)
PROJECT: Ammonia-UAN plant
SUMMARY STATUS:
In operation since 1968. In 2012, Koch Industries announced potential "production enhancements" at this and other sites but, despite completing major expansions at its other sites, there have been no indications of any expansions at Dodge City.
UPDATED: 09/27/2017 — see Change Log
OWNER: CF Industries Nitrogen LLC (CF Industries Holdings Inc)
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer complex, Brownfield ammonia-urea-UAN plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Donaldsonville began producing ammonia in 1966. Today, the site is a collection of individual plants, variously owned across the decades by CF Industries as well as Terra, Triad, Mississippi Chemical, First Mississippi, and Ampro. The new ammonia plant was due to start-up in early 2016, but only became operational in October 2016; the new urea plant was commissioned in November 2015, and the new UAN plant in March 2016. Donaldsonville is now "the largest nitrogen facility in the world."
UPDATED: 04/30/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: East Dubuque Nitrogen Fertilizers, LLC (CVR Partners LP / CVR Energy Inc)
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
The East Dubuque nitrogen plant started up in 1965. Rentech completed expansions of the urea line in 2013 and the ammonia line in 2014. In April 2016, Rentech and CVR Partners merged, and the plant now operates as a subsidiary of CVR. Also in 2016, CVR completed minor expansion work on its ammonia plant.
UPDATED: 03/22/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: El Dorado Chemical Company (LSB Industries Inc)
PROJECT: Nitrogen production complex, brownfield ammonia plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
El Dorado has been producing nitrogen since 1944, when the US army built the Ozark Ordnance Works. LSB Industries began construction on its new ammonia plant in November 2013 but costs spiraled out of control and start-up was delayed. LSB's share price fell off a cliff, followed by sweeping changes in management; the company was stabilized by a financing deal and asset sales, and LSB's plants may still be up for sale. The new ammonia plant started up in May 2016 and has been producing above nameplate capacity.
UPDATED: 12/10/2017 — see Change Log
OWNER: Koch Fertilizer Enid LLC (Koch Industries Inc)
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer plant, ammonia expansion, urea brownfield
SUMMARY STATUS: Construction Phase
Koch is expanding its Enid plant, the "single largest project investment in company history," increasing capacity on both ammonia lines, debottlenecking the existing urea plant, and building a new urea plant. The ground-breaking took place in October 2014; the project is slightly behind schedule, but construction was expected to be complete in 2017.
UPDATED: 02/21/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: The Mosaic Company
PROJECT: Ammonia plant debottleneck and brownfield ammonia plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Faustina has been producing ammonia since 1968. Mosaic chose to implement an emissions reduction project in 2017 instead of a debottleneck at Faustina. In October 2013, Mosaic abandoned plans for a $1.1 billion ammonia brownfield plant, because it became "unnecessary" after Mosaic acquired CF Industries' phosphate operations. In early 2018, Mosaic derated the capacity at Faustina.
UPDATED: 10/16/2017 — see Change Log
OWNER: Koch Industries
PROJECT: Ammonia / UAN plant
SUMMARY STATUS:
In operation since 1967. In 2012, Koch Industries announced potential "production enhancements" at this and other sites but, despite completing major expansions at its other sites, there have been no indications of any expansions at Fort Dodge.
UPDATED: 03/19/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Nutrien
PROJECT: Nitrogen plant, restart, expansion and urea brownfield
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational, Planning Phase
The Geismar ammonia plant started up in 1967 but was idled in 2003, due to the high cost of natural gas feedstock. PotashCorp restarted the plant in February 2013 at a cost of $260 million. Air permit documents reveal plans for significant future expansions. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
UPDATED: 05/14/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Northern Plains Nitrogen (NPN)
PROJECT: Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Planning phase
World-scale greenfield project led by farmers' co-ops. Seed capital raise exceeded expectations, January 2014. Water permits approved, December 2014; air permit approved, August 2015. Thereafter, project severely delayed: fund-raising was complicated by the commodity price drop. Awaiting FEED study, EPC contract, and financial close. In April 2018, the project was reportedly still "alive and well ... [although] we’re definitely not where we thought we’d be."
UPDATED: 04/17/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: US Nitrogen LLC (Austin Powder Company)
PROJECT: Greenfield ammonium nitrate plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
US Nitrogen broke ground in February 2012, when it expected its new plant to start up in March 2014, but the project was fraught with problems. Permits were revised and reissued repeatedly, and the site had major issues with compliance, which appear to continue even today. Construction and design issues led to major delays and lawsuits. The start-up process eventually began in May 2015 but the ammonia plant didn't start up until June 2016. Within a couple months, the site was temporarily shut down under federal and state investigation of permit compliance; more emission mishaps occurred in April 2017. The company announced that the plant was fully operational in January 2017 but, since then, it's not clear whether plant has been producing much product.
UPDATED: 11/05/2015 — see Change Log
OWNER: BioNitrogen (BioNitrogen Holdings Corp)
PROJECT: Greenfield urea plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Financing Phase - in Bankruptcy Protection
This site may yet be developed if one of BioNitrogen's proof-of-concept plants in Florida ever gets built. BioNitrogen entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2015.
UPDATED: 08/10/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: AdvanSix Inc (Honeywell spin-off)
PROJECT: Existing ammonia plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Ammonia production began at Hopewell in 1928, at which time it was the largest ammonia plant in the US. Today, using a plant built in 1965, ammonia is upgraded to caprolactam, for nylon; byproduct ammonium sulfate is sold as fertilizer. Unfortunately, the Hopewell site has a long history as an environmental disaster zone. In October 2016, Honeywell's resins and chemicals division was spun-off to become AdvanSix. Ammonia capacity increased slightly as a result of the Q4 2016 turnaround.
UPDATED: 08/08/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: EuroChem Louisiana LLC (EuroChem Group)
PROJECT: Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Planning phase
EuroChem has been planning an ambitious entry into the US fertilizer industry, developing one of the largest nitrogen complexes on the continent. However, there's been no public news of progress since 2017. The company didn't announce many details but the vast scale of the project was disclosed in permit documents, including applications for air and water permits in 2016, both of which are ongoing. EuroChem announced a MOU toward an EPC contract in April 2015. Awaiting the full EPC award announcement and a final investment decision from EuroChem's board.
UPDATED: 02/27/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: NutrienPROJECT: Idle plant, Ammonia-urea restart
SUMMARY STATUS: Planning Phase
Nutrien continues to evaluate whether to restart one of the two ammonia-urea lines at its export-oriented plant in Alaska. Originally, in 2013, Agrium had intended to make its investment decision by early 2015. The project received its first environmental permits in 2015 and continued permitting in 2016. It garnered state tax incentives in 2016 and 2017, with local incentives under discussion in 2018. Agrium's decision to restart the plant was, however, totally dependent on new availability of natural gas from the nearby Cook Inlet, which has not yet materialized. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
UPDATED: 10/23/2017 — see Change Log. No further updates expected.
OWNER: Hydrogen Energy California (HECA), SCS Energy
PROJECT: Greenfield power plant, fertilizer byproduct
SUMMARY STATUS: On hold, indefinitely
Despite years of development, this "clean coal" project never came together. The local oil field backed out, leaving HECA in an existential crisis with no way to sell or sequester its CO2 and, in March 2016, the project put itself on indefinite hold, by withdrawing its application to the CEC.
UPDATED: 02/01/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Nutrien
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer plant, expansion
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Announced in 2013, PotashCorp's latest ammonia expansion came online in October 2015 after a 7-week turnaround. The urea expansion came online in 2014. The Lima site has been producing ammonia since 1955. In January 2018, Nutrien was formed through a "merger of equals" between Agrium and PotashCorp that was originally announced in September 2016.
UPDATED: 11/24/2015 — see Change Log
OWNER: Agrium
PROJECT: Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Cancelled
Agrium abandoned its plans for a world-scale greenfield in June 2013, when the cost estimate approached $3 billion. The company says the project is on hold while it finds a strategic partner and secures a long-term natural gas supply.
UPDATED: 11/24/2014 — see Change Log
OWNER: University of Minnesota
PROJECT: Pilot plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
The Wind-To-Ammonia project at the University of Minnesota is a fully operational pilot plant, demonstrating the feasibility of using renewable energy to produce carbon-free ammonia.
UPDATED: 05/01/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Midwest Fertilizer Company LLC (Fatima Group)
PROJECT: Greenfield nitrogen fertilizer complex
SUMMARY STATUS: Planning phase
Major setbacks in 2016, when the EPC contract was awarded and then fell apart following a corruption scandal and a failure to secure equity financing. Major setbacks predicted in 2017 and confirmed in 2018, related to debt financing. Air permits were extended in 2017 but any progress now depends on winning a legal argument with the IRS.
UPDATED: 02/16/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Texas Clean Energy Project (Summit Power Group LLC)
PROJECT: Greenfield plant, urea
SUMMARY STATUS: Bankrupt
The Texas Clean Energy Project was going to be a major "clean coal" power plant with significant urea byproduct but DOE effectively killed the project when it suspended funding. Initiated in 2010 and originally scheduled to be completed by 2014, the project continually failed to raise financing for such a long time that the DOE finally withdrew its support in mid-2016. In December 2016, the developers announced one last idea, ditching power generation altogether to focus on urea production but soon after, in October 2017, the company went bankrupt.
UPDATED: 11/05/2015 — see Change Log
OWNER: BioNitrogen (BioNitrogen Holdings Corp)
PROJECT: Greenfield urea plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Financing Phase - in Bankruptcy Protection
BioNitrogen wanted to build up to five of its biomass-to-urea plants in Louisiana. The state allocated tax free bonds and other incentives. Nothing happened. This site may yet be developed if one of BioNitrogen's proof-of-concept plants in Florida ever gets built. BioNitrogen entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2015.
UPDATED: 04/17/2016 — see Change Log
OWNER: CF Industries Nitrogen LLC (CF Industries Holdings Inc)
PROJECT: Nitrogen fertilizer complex, brownfield ammonia-urea plant
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
Port Neal's new ammonia-urea plant started up in December 2016. CF Industries announced the project in late 2012 and began construction in 2013; project costs increased considerably during construction, and start-up was about six-months behind schedule. The new plants are now running at or above capacity.
UPDATED: 03/22/2018 — see Change Log
OWNER: Pryor Chemical Company (LSB Industries Inc)
PROJECT: Ammonia-UAN plant, expansion
SUMMARY STATUS: Operational
LSB Industries restarted the Pryor ammonia-UAN plant in 2010, after it had lain idle for a decade, and expanded it in 2013. Ammonia has been produced on this site since 1954; the current plant was commissioned in 1997. Reliability continues to be a major problem at Pryor; most recently, in September 2017, "a minor fire" put the plant out of operation for two and a half months.