A Swiss company plans to invest half a million dollars to develop a Richland data center despite having $157.3 million in federal funding slashed for its zero-carbon nitrate fertilizer plant north of the city. Securing the power to run both projects also continues to be a challenge.

But Atlas Agro is still committed to building the green fertilizer plant despite the setbacks, CEO Petter Østbø recently told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

“Losing (the funding was) of course unfortunate. However, there are many ways of proceeding with the project and making it attractive for an investment, which we are pursuing. I would say, it’s unfortunate, but not a critical problem,” he said.

The Trump administration cut funding for the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and other federally-subsidized clean energy projects on Oct. 1. About $1 billion in federal funding was lost, according to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, including the $157.3 million set aside for Atlas Agro.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the projects weren’t economically viable and wouldn’t provide a positive return on the investment of taxpayer dollars.

Østbø said its main project investor is Macquarie, which he described as one of the largest infrastructure investors globally. Atlas Agro also has several other partners that are interested in the final investment stage.

Land for plant

Atlas Agro signed an agreement with the Port of Benton to buy 150 acres in the Horn Rapids Industrial Park to build its fertilizer plant in March 2023, with initial plans to open in 2027. Since then, the project has been delayed by additional setbacks, and an amendment to extend the closing date of the agreement by a year – to Jan. 31, 2027 – was brought before the port during an Oct. 15 commission meeting. 

The extension would “allow for additional time to complete necessary regulatory processes, including factors outside the parties’ control such as uncertainty on tariffs, utility equipment availability, and (Bonneville Power Administration) interconnection,” the document read.

Though supportive of the project, port Commissioner Lori Stevens moved to reduce the extension to six months due to the project’s uncertainty, then consider future extensions based on project updates. 

Commissioners unanimously approved this plan.

Atlas Agro wasn’t put off by the port’s extension. Østbø said that his company has already invested millions of dollars into the project and will continue to keep the port updated.

Port Executive Director Diahann Howard estimated at the meeting that Atlas Agro’s investment in the project is at $25 million so far, which includes spending on BPA transmission upgrades and National Environmental Policy Act, geotechnical, engineering and design work.

Project challenges

The BPA transmission upgrades are a key factor stalling the project. 

Despite Atlas Agro’s financial investments in the power infrastructure, the company must wait for BPA to put in the interconnection, or the power line connecting the project to the electric grid, which will have a larger capacity than the needs of the fertilizer plant alone so that other future users will be able to connect to it. 

During the port commission meeting, Karl Dye, president and CEO of the Tri-City Development Council, or TRIDEC, said that with the expanded scope of the interconnection, it’s expected to be completed in three years.

Atlas Agro didn’t yet have an updated time frame from BPA, but Østbø put the timeline for opening the plant late in the decade or the beginning of the next decade. 

Data center plans

In the meantime, Atlas Agro is leaning into building a massive data center. 

A Sept. 22 letter of intent to the city of Richland announced the company’s plans to buy 275 acres in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park just north of Horn Rapids Road, across from Framatome, for just under $24 million. 

Atlas Agro wants to build and operate five 500,000-square-foot buildings for data centers. The project would cost $500 million and create more than 100 jobs, with construction to start in 2027, according to the letter of intent.

The Richland Economic Development Committee considered the proposal at an Oct. 20 meeting. Seven of the eight members present at the meeting unanimously voted to support a recommendation to the council for approval. At a later date, the agreement will move to the council for approval, said Mandy Wallner, economic development manager with the city, in an email.

Østbø said that the reason for launching the data center is to share infrastructure costs with the fertilizer plant, as well as current interest in the development of data centers. 

This shared infrastructure includes not only the grid connection Atlas Agro is already investing in, but also everything from roads and gates to cooling facilities. Other users making plans for the area also could benefit from the work.

Østbø described the region as “an attractive place to build data centers,” with a good climate and skilled labor in the area. He said Atlas Agro has been considering the plan for a year or so. Already, it has some parties interested in the data center. 

The data center also will be easier to build than the fertilizer plant, Østbø said, but it will need to wait on the same BPA grid upgrades. 

“It’s the power that’s the limiting factor, both for the fertilizer plant and for the potential data center,” he said. 

Power plans

Power was a big topic under discussion at the Oct. 15 port meeting, too. 

To fire up the future fertilizer plant, Atlas Agro needs about 320 megawatts.

BPA has a cap on its power so that a new user can only buy 10 megawatts of power, Dye explained. This means that Atlas Agro needs to source its own power. 

Østbø said that Atlas Agro looked at what is available in the region and noted “there are a lot of projects that are shovel-ready that have not found customers to connect,” he said. “… It will be new power, and will not consume the power of the citizens of Richland, so there should be no impact on prices.”

When the fertilizer plant eventually gets off the ground, it’s expected to create 200 jobs and make 700,000 tons of nitrate fertilizer each year while reducing the industry’s carbon footprint and reliance on foreign exports. 

Østbø said that the plant would help local farmers, who import most of their nitrogen fertilizer – often from Russia – and pay more because of transportation costs. Localizing production and using renewable energy will be beneficial, he said. 

“We had several sites we were looking at regionally … and we chose Richland because of the spirit of the city, of TRIDEC, of the port,” Østbø said. “… This is a first of its kind in the world in a very large industry which is not very known, and it kind of reflects the spirit of the Manhattan Project that we felt was great to have here. It really is a flagship project that we hope to get built, and it’s a great place to build it.”