New Green Hydrogen Production Facility Announced For Louisiana: Monarch Energy

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**Plans for nearly $500m green hydrogen facility unveiled in Louisiana, backed with state government cash.**

Developer Monarch Energy intends to start operating the 120 tonne-per-day plant in 2027.

California-based project developer Monarch Energy has announced plans to build a $426m green hydrogen plant in Louisiana — backed with state government cash — aiming to produce 120 tonnes per day to provide H₂feedstock to a wide range of nearby chemical and industrial processes.

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Monarch expects to start operations at the facility in 2027, and will use electrolysis to produce hydrogen, although the source of electricity is yet to be determined.

While Louisiana has seen some green hydrogen announcements, the largest in terms of production capacity have been so-called “blue” H₂ projects, which produce the molecule from methane reforming while capturing and storing carbon emissions.

This is likely due to cheap gas prices and the state’s existing infrastructure for producing and processing fossil fuels, as well as nearby geology allowing CO₂ sequestration.

However, the biggest of these proposed plants — the 1.2 million tonnes-a-year Geismar blue ammonia facility — has been shelved due to higher costs than previously estimated and uncertainty around demand for low-carbon NH₃.

Monarch Energy’s project, to be sited in Ascension Parish — also the location of industrial gases firm Air Products’ planned $4.5bn blue H₂plant — will be supported by the state of Louisiana, which has prepared a “competitive incentives package” which would include a $500,000 performance-based forgivable loan from the Economic Development Award Program for site and infrastructure improvements.

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And if Monarch takes final investment decision (FID) to build the facility in 2025, the developer would also be eligible to participate in Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs, the latter of which allows companies to not pay property taxes for ten years.

However, only around 44 new direct jobs are expected to be created for the plant’s development and operations, with up to 300 construction jobs, although state government agency Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project would result in an additional 105 new indirect jobs, for a total of 149 potential new jobs in the Capital Region.

“We are pleased to be working with LED to develop a project that supports the local community by bringing investment and jobs to the region,” Monarch Energy CEO Ben Alingh said.

“We are looking forward to adding to the legacy of the local industrial community of Ascension Parish and helping to support the energy transition.”Multibillion-dollar blue hydrogen and data centre complex announced in West Virginia

The project will also be part of the H2theFuture, which is currently a coalition of 25 organisations that has already secured a $50m grant from the federal government towards research and development, workforce training, and business development to accelerate hydrogen projects in the state.

While a separate initiative to the HALO hub — a coalition of the states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma which seeks funding from the $7bn Regional Hydrogen Hubs program — H2theFuture and its partners have been involved in the application process.