Ascend Performance Materials — Pensacola Plant
Large load · 3000 Old Chemstrand Road, Cantonment, FL
Ascend Performance Materials' Pensacola plant, at 3000 Old Chemstrand Road in Cantonment, Escambia County, Florida, manufactures adipic acid, nylon fibers and resins, hexamethylene diamine and maleic anhydride. Ascend Performance Materials Operations LLC operates it, and cogeneration units provide process steam and plant electricity. FERC and EIA records list four generators at the plant, of 5, 5, 6 and 86 MW nameplate.
Overview
The plant manufactures adipic acid, nylon fibers and resins, hexamethylene diamine and maleic anhydride. Its nitric acid plant has a maximum capacity of 1,500 tons per day, and the site produces 450,000 metric tons per year of nylon 66 resin. A compounding line of 30 kmt per year was added in 2013. Ascend invested over $80 million at Cantonment in 2022 to improve safety and reliability.
Profile
- Electricity and grid
- Cogeneration units and boilers at the plant provide process steam and plant electricity. FERC and EIA records list generators GEN1 and GEN2 at 5 MW each, GEN3 at 6 MW and GEN4 at 86 MW. A 1992 filing by Monsanto for its Pensacola plant described a fourth cogeneration unit with nominal capacity of 86 megawatts, bringing onsite cogeneration capacity to approximately 102 megawatts, and requested 48 megawatts of standby service from Gulf Power. The same filing proposed that Monsanto deliver 21,000 kilowatts of firm capacity to Gulf from June 1, 1996 through May 31, 2005, with monthly capacity payments of $68,750. Florida Power & Light's Northwest Florida Division is the successor utility for the former Gulf Power service area.
- Ownership and permits
- Ascend Performance Materials LLC is listed as owner and operator in EPA's facility registry, which also associates a Gulf Power Company substation site with the facility. Florida DEP issued a draft underground injection control permit on August 31, 2026, for continued operation of three Class I industrial injection wells. Ascend applied for the permit on November 24, 2021, and notice of the draft was published September 2, 2026.
Facility
- Activity
- Chemicals and products including adipic acid, nylon fibers and resins, hexamethylene diamine, and maleic anhydride
- Industry
- Industrial
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating