Louisiana Governor & Cleco Announce $900 Million Project to Reduce Emissions from Power Plant

Louisiana – Governor John Bel Edwards and Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC President and CEO Bill Fontenot announced a $900 million investment to significantly reduce carbon emissions at Madison-3 at Brame Energy Center in Lena, Louisiana, the largest of the company’s nine electric generation units in Louisiana.

Cleco Power, a regulated electric public utility serving 291,000 customers in 24 Louisiana parishes, plans to construct a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility that will remove and compress 95 percent or more of the CO2 emitted by Madison-3 and permanently store it in geological formations beneath the site. The project is dubbed “Diamond Vault,” and the company estimates that it will generate 30 to 40 direct new jobs and an average of 1,100 construction jobs in central Louisiana over a three-year period.

“Today’s announcement is an important milestone on Louisiana’s path to a cleaner energy future,” Governor Edwards said. “Our state has attracted significant investment in the construction of new facilities that minimize emissions. Cleco’s investment reduces existing emissions, which moves us even more rapidly toward our goal of Net Zero emissions by 2050. I applaud Cleco’s initiative, and challenge other businesses in the state to be aggressive in their response to Louisiana’s Climate Action Plan. Doing so will strengthen our environment and our economy, especially in our rural communities.”

Cleco obtained a $9 million congressional appropriation, which will be administered and disbursed by Louisiana Economic Development, to assist with the cost of a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study. Following the study, Cleco intends to raise approximately $900 million in capital funding through tax credits, Department of Energy grants, and private equity investment.

“Cleco’s Project Diamond Vault will ensure a clean and sustainable power solution for Cleco customers, while creating and retaining jobs for the communities we serve,” Fontenot said. “In Louisiana, we have the natural resources, the ingenuity, the geology, the people and the infrastructure to transform the power industry as we know it. Cleco is thankful for the support of Gov. Edwards, Sen. Cassidy, Louisiana Economic Development and other Louisiana leaders.”

The FEED study is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2023. Permitting is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025, following an environmental impact and public review process. Construction would begin immediately, and commercial operations would begin no later than 2028.

“Cleco’s Diamond Vault project positions both the company and the region for new leadership roles in the emerging green energy economy,” Louisiana Central President and CEO Jim Clinton said. “The potential for job, wealth and enterprise creation could trigger a new era of growth and prosperity for the region. Diamond Vault can be a breath of fresh air for the planet, a growth driver for Cleco, and a big opportunity for our people and businesses.”