A Swedish fertilizer company announced Thursday it plans to locate its first U.S. plant in Christian County, at a site served by Pennyrile Electric. The $109.2 million Cinis Fertilizer production plant is projected to create 65 new full-time jobs.

The company plans to construct a new facility at 200 Recharge Blvd. in Hopkinsville, with construction beginning mid-2025. The operation will recycle waste salt from battery production at the nearby Ascend Elements facility to produce low-carbon fertilizer.

Cinis Fertilizer and its patented process were developed in Lund, Sweden, by Jakob Liedberg, a chemical engineer. He saw potential for cross-fertilization, solving the waste issue and circularity for traditional industries while decarbonizing plant nutrition.

“TVA and Pennyrile Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. congratulate Cinis Fertilizer on its decision to establish operations in Christian County,” said John Bradley, TVA senior vice president of economic development. “Helping to support companies, like Cinis Fertilizer, that are creating jobs and investment in the region is at the core of TVA’s mission of service. We are proud to partner with South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council, city of Hopkinsville, Christian County and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to further that mission and celebrate this announcement together.”

Mason Lovell, Kentucky’s 2024 delegate on NRECA’s Youth Leadership Council, speaks to the Pennyrile Board of Directors about the important role electricity has played in his life.

Mason participated in the Kentucky Electric Cooperatives 2024 Youth Tour program, touring our state and nations capitol and meeting with Kentucky’s elected officials. As Kentucky’s youth leadership delegate, Mason meets monthly with the youth leadership council, spoke to a group of elementary school students about electricity during co-op month, and will attend NRECA’s 2025 PowerXchange conference.

In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump’s transition office, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson outlines high-priority actions the new administration can take to support a pro-energy policy agenda that will help meet skyrocketing U.S. electricity demand, remove regulatory burdens for co-ops, and promote the well-being of rural communities.

Matheson says reliability is under threat from “flawed public policies” that are forcing the premature closure of power plants. That’s a key reason the North American Electric Reliability Corp. expects many states to be at high risk of rolling blackouts in the next five years during normal peak demand conditions. And the problem is exacerbated by increasing demand from data centers, which could consume nearly 10% of all U.S. electric output by 2030, the letter stated.

Click here to see the seven key actions Matheson says Trump can take to address these challenges.