The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has approved a $1.5 billion loan to Wabash Valley Resources, LLC, to restart and repurpose a coal gasification plant in West Terre Haute, Indiana, for domestic fertilizer production. The facility will produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia per year using coal and petcoke, reducing US reliance on imported fertilizer. The project aims to strengthen domestic supply chains, lower costs for farmers, enhance national food security, and create hundreds of American jobs, aligning with the Trump administration’s energy dominance and national security objectives. The DOE writes:
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today announced the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) closed a loan to support independent, American-made, and coal-powered fertilizer production.
The $1.5 billion loan to Wabash Valley Resources, LLC, will help finance a coal and ammonia fertilizer facility in West Terre Haute, Indiana. The project will restart and repurpose a coal gasification plant idled since 2016 to produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia per year by using coal from a nearby Southern Indiana mine and petcoke as feedstock.
“For too long, America has been dependent on foreign sources of fertilizer,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are changing that by putting America first, relying on American coal, American workers, and American innovation to power our farms and feed our families.”
By investing in a coal community, the Wabash project will bring the gasification plant back online to produce ammonia fertilizer – a vital resource for farmers across the Corn Belt, which currently relies on imports from Canada, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Russia.
The project will strengthen domestic supply chains, lower costs for farmers and consumers, and strengthen national food security by producing cost-competitive ammonia for the Eastern Corn Belt while creating hundreds of American jobs.
The loan, which was carefully evaluated under the new LPO guidance directed by Secretary Wright, delivers on the Trump administration’s promise to responsibly steward taxpayer dollars and unleash American energy dominance. The Wabash financial close is the second closed loan under the Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) Program created by the Working Families Tax Cut, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Today’s announcement highlights DOE’s commitment to achieving President Trump’s national security and energy dominance goals by securing domestic fertilizer supply for farmers in the Corn Belt and ensuring the American people’s access to reliable, abundant, and affordable energy.
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