Cleco Power Launches Major Louisiana Economic Initiative: Project Diamond Vault
$9 Million in Congressional Funding Secured to Support Engineering Study
Diamond Vault Project Announcement
"I believe that investments like this one which reduces existing energy emissions are even more critical than anything else that we could do because they're gonna have a positive impact much much sooner, and they stimulate economic activity, create jobs, and they create jobs right here in rural areas where they're needed the most."
- Governor John Bel Edwards
"Diamond Vault is about engineering a way to help decarbonize energy production in a state that's built its economy around carbon."
- Bill Fontenot, Cleco President and CEO
"We are embracing the future through this project which is so important for Cleco, but I would argue it is important for the state, nation, and the world.
- Senator Bill Cassidy
Commissioner Mike Francis
Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel, Bill Conway
Governor John Bel Edwards, Bill Fontenot, and Bill Conway
FAQs
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What is the timing for the project?
The FEED study for Project Diamond Vault has already begun and is expected to be completed by Q1 2024. Permitting is expected to be complete some time during the second half of 2025. Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2025, and commercial operation of Project Diamond Vault is planned to occur no later than 2028. -
How much will Project Diamond Vault cost?
Project Diamond Vault is projected to have a capital cost of approximately $900 million. -
Why is the Project called Diamond Vault?
It’s a metaphor. Diamonds are precious jewels made deep within the earth. Project Diamond Vault won’t literally make diamonds. (At the planned temperatures and pressures, sequestered CO2 will be in the form of a sludge which will bond with surrounding rock over time.) But we do believe that gathering and sequestering carbon in geological vaults directly below the Brame Energy Center will have precious value to Cleco, our ratepayers, and the state of Louisiana as a whole.
To us, the project is a diamond.