Northern Plains Nitrogen hopes for construction on fertilizer plant in 2027

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald By Jordan Rusche Today at 8:15 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? GRAND FORKS — Northern Plains Nitrogen is still taking steps to open a fertilizer plant in Grand Forks, with NPN representatives offering an update on the project to Grand Forks City Council members Monday night. The update came alongside preliminary approval from the council to extend a letter of intent agreement with the company related to industrial water supply and discharge at the proposed plant site. The extension would last from Dec. 31, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2027. ADVERTISEMENT Clark Bailey, chief executive officer of Northern Plains Nitrogen, said the current goal is to start construction in early 2027, with commercial operation beginning in the last half of 2030. “In the second quarter of 2030, we’ll be basically wrapping up construction and doing our start-up commissioning, which happens to coincide when we think we’ll have gas available to us,” he said. The project has been scaled down somewhat compared to earlier projections — the footprint has shrunk, and the plant will be focusing on producing granulated urea fertilizer, estimating about 1 million tons per year. The estimated cost for the project has, as a result, come down from an estimated $2.56 billion to approximately $2.37 billion. Interest in the project has increased in recent months, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz greatly slowed imports of fertilizer ingredients to the United States. City Administrator Todd Feland added the federal government has declared the demand for nitrogen fertilizer “a national security issue.” One of the biggest steps in moving the project forward has been securing financing to reach the final investment decision, when sponsors and stakeholders commit to financing a project, moving it into the implementation phase. The goal is to reach that point by early 2027. Bailey said Northern Plains Nitrogen has so far raised $45 million in Schedule A shares and is working on applying for grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The company previously applied for the $500 million Fertilizer Investment and Expansion for Long-term Domestic Supply, or FIELDS, program but was not approved for funding. The proposed fertilizer plant would help meet a priority of the federal government right now, as Bailey said the country uses about 16 million tons of granulated urea each year, with 5 million tons of that being imported. North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota consume about 3 million tons. ADVERTISEMENT Feland said the city and Northern Plains Nitrogen have not yet created a developer agreement, which will have to take place before the city can approve any site development for the plant. That agreement process won’t begin until after Northern Plains Nitrogen has secured an investor for the project. Council member Ken Vein asked if the city’s part of the project could be completed within Northern Plains Nitrogen’s suggested timeline. “Even doing the development agreement is going to be a lot of work,” he said. “We don’t have much time in the time frames that they’re showing here, and there probably are details that we will need to iron out a little bit.” Feland said while the company’s timeline is “aggressive” and will likely take longer than what is being estimated, he is also being optimistic and wants to get the project moving forward as soon as possible. In other news, the council: Preliminarily approved a list of prequalified consultants for engineering services for 2026-2028. The 23 firms were selected through a request for qualifications for firms that may be interested in providing services for future quick-response and smaller-scale local projects. The vote passed 6-1, with President Dana Sande dissenting, saying he didn’t like giving out contracts without a request for proposals. Preliminarily approved awarding an approximately $2.7 million contract to Gowan Construction for a road improvement project on 70th Avenue North from North Washington Street to one-half mile west of North 55th Street. Preliminarily approved declaring equipment from the Environmental Management Department Mosquito Control Division as surplus and authorizing staff to proceed with sale, scrap or disposal of equipment. The equipment includes a Land Tamer track vehicle, a tilt bed trailer and a mist blower/thermal fogger. Preliminarily approved a five-year, 100% expanding business property tax incentive for Cirrus Aircraft. Cirrus is planning to move forward with Phase 2 of its expansion with a 50,000-square-foot expansion and 13 new personnel. The council in 2025 approved a 10-year, 100% tax incentive for an earlier expansion. The vote passed 6-1, with Rebecca Osowski dissenting, saying she did not want to continue giving Cirrus tax breaks because of its ties to China. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags GRAND FORKS CITY COUNCIL AGRIBUSINESS By Jordan Rusche Jordan Rusche is the government reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. 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