PORT ARTHUR, Texas — An ultra-low-carbon ammonia plant is coming to Port Arthur.
The $1.2 billion Cormorant Clean Energy Project will be built near Highway 73 and West Port Arthur Road.
This facility will be on land purchased from GT Omniport and Howard Energy Partners.
"We're excited about the opportunity this project presents," said Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick. "We're seeing a transition to natural gas and more carbon neutral fuel sources as we move forward."
Branick says this new plant cements Southeast Texas' role in the energy revolution.
"We're happy to welcome those additions to our energy landscapes," he said.
But what exactly will this new project do ?
"We are generating hydrogen and converting that hydrogen to ammonia," said Chief Operating Officer with 8 Rivers Capital in North Carolina, Steven Milward.
The company will use something called 8HR2 carbon hydrogen processing technology.
"You replace the air which you would usually have in an combustion process with the CO2. So, it's effectively synthetic air. So, there are no emissions to the atmosphere," Milward said.
Milward says the facility will capture 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide and produce almost a million tons of ammonia a year.
That ammonia will be exported to South Korea.
"It will be used to replace fossil fuels in coal fired power plants," he said.
The company says Port Arthur proved to be the perfect place for the project.
"What is the infrastructure like for natural gas supply, what is the infrastructure like for CO2 pipelines and this area checked all the boxes," Milward said.
Judge Branick says it's all about jobs.
"There are going to a lot of construction jobs to go along with the thousands of construction jobs that are already available," he said.
Once construction is complete, there will be several hundred permanent jobs at the plant.
Milward says they have been working with area partners and officials on this project for nearly two years.