(The Center Square) – A draft permit approved for a Class VI well puts a company in northeast Louisiana a step away from the final approval required to build a wood-fired biofuels fuels energy plant and store the carbon produced about a mile underground at a 327-acre site in Caldwell Parish.The draft permit, approved by the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, is the third of its kind issued by state regulators but the first issued to a project with multiple wells as part of its long-term plan, according to a statement by Strategic Biofuels, the company developing the Louisiana Green Fuels project. The project is planned for a site at the Port of Columbia on the west bank of the Ouachita River in northeast Louisiana.”This milestone reflects the unwavering focus of our team on delivering a project that merges proven technology, ideal geology, and deep community partnership to produce clean energy at scale while also bringing great economic impact to Caldwell Parish,” said Paul Schubert, CEO of Strategic Biofuels.The approval of the draft permit comes four months after Gov. Jeff Landry declared a moratorium on new applications for Class VI wells. State regulators have given final approval to only one project, Hackberry Carbon Sequestration in Cameron Parish, while three draft permits have been issued.Class VI wells are specifically designed to store carbon below thick layers of impermeable shale and clay, according to the engineers and geologists that design the projects.Organizations such as the Sierra Club and Louisiana Bucket Brigade argue that carbon capture and sequestration is an “untested” and “unproven” technology that fails to guarantee clean air or water.Strategic Biofuels plans to build a 100-megawatt wood-fired power generation plant designed to deliver carbon-neutral electricity to the local grid while capturing and permanently storing the carbon dioxide in the company’s sequestration complex in Caldwell Parish. The plant would deliver a net 75 megawatts of electricity to the Louisiana grid, with the remainder powering the carbon capture and sequestration operations, the company said.”We are not just reducing emissions; we are actually removing them permanently and doing it all while bringing a first-of-its-kind critical resource to Louisiana – always-available 24/7 renewable electric power. Our project is unique because the three essential elements of the project – power production, carbon capture, and carbon storage – all happen within the parish,” said Schubert. “This is important because there are no long-distance CO2 pipelines, ensuring that the high-paying jobs and increased tax revenues made possible by CCS accrue to the local community.”The company’s 327-acre site has access to approximately 8,000 acres of deep underground “pore space” for permanent carbon storage. The facility will convert approximately 1.3 million tons of forestry waste per year into high-purity synthetic fuels for use in the aviation and trucking industries.In using forestry waste sourced in the area to produce fuel and generate power, the plant would provide a new market for north Louisiana loggers, who have struggled following the closure of paper mills in recent years.In April 2025, the International Paper Company ceased operations at the Campti/Red River Mill in Natchitoches Parish, which had purchased roughly 1.6 million tons of pulpwood annually before its closure.After the minimum 30-day period for written public comments and a community meeting in Caldwell Parish scheduled by the Department of Conservation and Energy for April 9, Strategic Biofuels said it anticipates receiving the final permit to begin construction within approximately 90 days.In 2022-2024, the Port of Columbia was awarded several state and federal grants totaling $50 million for infrastructure upgrades.Louisiana Economic Development projects 76 direct jobs will be created at the plant with an average salary of $68,000 along with another 412 indirect jobs. The project will generate approximately 450 construction jobs over 30 months with first operations expected to begin in 2028.The project’s developers expect Louisiana Green Fuels will generate over 1 million high-quality, durable Carbon Dioxide Removal credits each year.The Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Save My Louisiana did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday afternoon.
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