The new facility to bring jobs and economic investment to Central Louisiana through energy innovation, delivering lower-carbon marine fuels
Pineville, LA (7/27/2023) – The City of Pineville and Louisiana Central announced today that SunGas Renewables Inc. (“SunGas Renewables”) has formed Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, LLC (“BLRE”), which will construct a new green methanol production facility in Pineville, LA. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SunGas Renewables, BLRE is expected to generate from the facility nearly 400,000 metric tons of green methanol per year for marine fuel while creating more than 1,150 jobs during construction and more than 100 local jobs during operation.
Green methanol produced by BLRE is expected to be used to fuel A.P. Moller – Maersk’s (“Maersk’s”) fleet of methanol-powered container vessels and will utilize wood fiber from local, sustainably-managed forests. The methanol will have a negative carbon intensity through sequestration of nearly a million tons per year of carbon dioxide produced by the project, which will be executed by Denbury Carbon Solutions.
“As the only state in the Gulf South with a climate action plan, Louisiana is a global leader in the energy transition, and companies like SunGas Renewables have taken notice,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “I applaud SunGas Renewables for pursuing this massive investment that would create quality, high-paying jobs in central Louisiana for our talented workers. If it moves forward, this project will be another milestone in our efforts to grow and diversify our economy. The state will continue to support the company’s efforts to bring it to completion.”
SunGas Renewables anticipates BLRE will invest approximately $2 billion to construct the project at the former International Paper facility in Rapides Parish. The BLRE facility is expected to begin construction in late 2024 with commercial operations commencing in 2027.
“This is a great day for Pineville and Central Louisiana,” Rich Dupree, Mayor of the City of Pineville, LA said. “It took a lot to make this deal happen! The level of local teamwork, combined with Governor John Bel Edwards, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy and Congresswoman Julia Letlow, all made for a synergy of leadership to break through many barriers along the way. It has also been a long time since an announcement of this magnitude has happened anywhere in our region, so today we welcome a game-changing manufacturer to Pineville and a tremendous employer for all of Central Louisiana.”
Louisiana Central President and CEO Jim Clinton said, “The Beaver Lake Renewable Energy project is another large-scale investment in Central Louisiana’s green energy profile. This region is emerging as an important player in the nation’s energy transition with new jobs and investments now occurring throughout our region. We thank SunGas Renewables for its decision to locate its first green methanol production facility here and we thank the remarkable team of local partners whose contributions to this announcement have been so crucial.”
Mayor of Pineville
Louisiana Central President & CEO
This project has been a collaborative effort between SunGas Renewables, Louisiana Economic Development and several Central Louisiana organizations. Louisiana Central, the region’s economic development organization, the City of Pineville, the City of Alexandria, Central Louisiana Regional Port, Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce and Cleco have had instrumental roles in attracting this investment and the creation of jobs that will have a large-scale, positive impact on the Central Louisiana region and the state. In addition, support from the region’s federal and state elected delegations was key to the company locating in Pineville.
“Using biomass from sustainably managed forestry along with carbon capture allows our project to generate green marine shipping fuel while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere. This new low-carbon marine fuel facility also helps strengthen communities and create sustainable economies right here in Rapides Parish, Louisiana,” said Robert Rigdon, CEO of SunGas Renewables. “As we continue our mission to make a meaningful impact in the energy transition, we look forward to collaborating with all our project partners and the State of Louisiana to construct and operate this important project. This incredible effort happening right here in Pineville will be an innovative and industry leading low-carbon energy solution that will help fuel a better world.”
“We truly hope Beaver Lake Renewable Energy makes the Alexandria region home,” Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy said. “Our community welcomes all regional growth leading to better jobs and opportunity for citizens, especially when a site like the one proposed is brought back into commerce. We have many resources to offer businesses and a wonderful quality of life we know any industry choosing our region would enjoy.”
“Central Louisiana Regional Port is tremendously proud to collaborate with SunGas on this transformative project of global transportation impact,” Ben Russo, Executive Director of Central Louisiana Regional Port said. “This project will enhance and expand on a great industrial base here in Central Louisiana. Its addition will provide opportunities to downstream businesses providing additional economic benefit to Central Louisiana.”
“BLRE represents a significant milestone in the clean energy sector and showcases our region’s commitment to sustainable development,” said Bill Fontenot, president and CEO of Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC. “This innovative project commits to reducing carbon emissions and brings economic benefits to central Louisiana. Cleco’s commitment to serving the evolving needs of companies embracing clean-energy solutions aligns with the goals of SunGas Renewables and the Beaver Lake Renewable Energy project.”
“SunGas choosing to locate in our region with an investment of such magnitude is a huge success for all of us,” Joe Bishop, President of the Rapides Parish Police Jury said. “We are excited for this industry to locate and thrive in Rapides Parish.”
“This has truly been a group effort with collaboration and support from so many partners and elected officials on the local, state, and federal levels,” said Deborah Randolph, President of Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The sizable investment by SunGas Renewables will create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs. The multiplier effect of this investment and infusion of new jobs will have a tremendous economic impact on local businesses in the entire region.”
In late 2022, SunGas Renewables announced a strategic green methanol partnership with Denmark-based Maersk, the world’s second largest container shipping company, to produce green methanol from multiple facilities around the country. Maersk is a leader in decarbonizing marine shipping by using green methanol to fuel its new and growing fleet of methanol powered container vessels. The BLRE project is SunGas Renewable’s first facility to produce green methanol for Maersk. SunGas Renewables chose Central Louisiana for the BLRE project due to its long history of sustainably managed forests, available infrastructure to support the facility, and strong local and State support.
- Learn more about Beaver Lake Renewable Energy here.
- See more at https://info.louisiana-central.com/sungas-renewables-announces-beaver-lake-renewables-energy-a-green-methanol-facility-in-central-louisiana
- Download attached pdf release.
- See video release with Louisiana Central President & CEO, Jim Clinton, and City of Pineville Mayor, Rich Dupree, here.
About Louisiana Central
Louisiana Central is the regional economic development organization for Central Louisiana. It is a pivotal connector uniting leaders in the region to work together to make Central Louisiana a thriving hub for sustainable economic growth. The organization exists to grow the ten-parish region of Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Vernon, and Winn. To learn more about Louisiana Central visit www.louisiana-central.com and follow our social media pages. (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)
About SunGas Renewables
SunGas Renewables, a spin-out of GTI Energy, is taking a leading role in decarbonization through providing its System 1000 renewable syngas product to third parties for renewable hydrogen and biofuels production while also developing and investing in low-carbon biofuels businesses. The SunGas Renewables System 1000 contains pressurized fluidized bed gasification technology, originally developed by GTI Energy, integrated with other large-scale proven commercial technologies to provide an optimized and reliable green syngas manufacturing platform for production of green methanol for marine fuel, renewable natural gas, green hydrogen and other renewable biofuels from sustainably sourced biomass and wood fiber. SunGas is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.sungasrenewables.com.
About Maersk
A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As a global leader in logistics services, the company operates in more than 130 countries and employs over 110,000 people world-wide. Maersk is aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2040 across the entire business with new technologies, new vessels, and green fuels.
