North Dakota is seeing a lot of activity and investment in substantial capital projects – across the state.
"We've had more 'deal flow' than we've ever seen before," said North Dakota Commerce Department Economic Development and Finance Director Josh Teigen. "A lot of times, companies come in and kick the tires. But we don't end up with a project."
Teigen said now, we're seeing nearly every single one of the proposals being converted to an actual project. He said the impetus was Gov. Doug Burgum's announcement of the goal for the state to be "carbon free" by 2030.
"They're putting the shovel in the ground," Teigen said. And he said a good number of the projects are "value-added." And he said the impetus was Gov. Doug Burgum's announcement of the goal for the state to be "carbon free" by 2030.
"That's how a lot of people started looking at North Dakota," Teigen said.
Teigen points to the soybean crushing and corn milling plants that have been announced. And he said capturing carbon dioxide from coal fired power plants and ethanol refineries could also be value-added. He said the Three Affiliated Tribes have been exploring a greenhouse project, that would use the captured CO2 to grow plants.
"That's good for our tribal nations, as well as the partnerships between tribal governments, the private sector and state government," Teigen said. "I think we could some real cool stuff over the next couple of years."
And Teigen said the state is now in discussions with fertilizer companies, to set up shop here.
"Our groweres are paying some of the highest prices in the nation for fertilizer, because we're at the end of the supply chain," Teigen said. "Well, we have the natural gas here and the demand — so it's a perfect storm for companies like that to come in."
