CF Industries Holdings today announced the start-up of the carbon dioxide (CO2) dehydration and compression facility at its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana.

The facility will enable the transportation and permanent geological sequestration of up to 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually that would otherwise have been emitted into the atmosphere.

ExxonMobil, the company’s carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) partner for this project, will be transporting and permanently storing the CO2.

On an interim basis, ExxonMobil is storing CO2 from the Donaldsonville Complex in permanent geologic sites through enhanced oil recovery. Upon receiving its applicable permits, ExxonMobil plans to transition to dedicated permanent storage, starting with its Rose CCS project. Rose is one of many dedicated permanent storage sites ExxonMobil is developing along the Gulf Coast to expand its integrated CCS network. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft Class VI permit for Rose in July, and final permits are expected later this year.

“The start-up of the Donaldsonville carbon dioxide dehydration and compression facility and initiation of sequestration by ExxonMobil is a historic milestone in our Company’s decarbonization journey,” said Tony Will, president and chief executive officer, CF Industries Holdings, Inc. “By starting permanent sequestration now, we reduce our emissions, accelerate the availability of low-carbon ammonia for our customers and begin generating valuable 45Q tax credits.”

As a result of its Donaldsonville CCS project, CF Industries expects to produce approximately 1.9 million tons of low-carbon ammonia on an annual basis. CF Industries also expects to qualify for tax credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides a credit per metric ton of CO2 stored.