Delta Biofuel is officially building a $100 million full-scale renewable fuel production facility in Iberia Parish, after announcing its final investment decision last week.
The first of its kind in North America, the plant will convert sugarcane waste into feedstock for low-emissions energy production and is expected to create 126 jobs with an annual salary of $62,500, according to Louisiana Economic Development.
Sugarcane costs less and produces fewer emissions than other biomass fuels used for power generation, like wood pellets, according to LED.
In a prepared statement, Gov. John Bel Edwards points to the planned facility as an example of how transitioning to cleaner energy creates jobs and a diverse range of opportunities across multiple economic sectors. He also says it’s fitting that Delta Biofuel would choose Louisiana as site for the facility, seeing as the state produced more than 2 million tons of sugarcane last year.
Delta Biofuel’s total expenditure for the project is 43% higher than the $70 million investment the company first proposed in 2021. LED started working with Delta in December 2020 and offered the company a competitive incentives package that includes the services of LED FastStart, a performance-based grant of $1 million as a reimbursement for infrastructure improvement expenditures to secure the investment. Delta is also expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs program and, pending local approval, the Industrial Tax Exemption program.
