A Houston energy transition company is planning a $2 billion investment to produce clean hydrogen with natural gas in West Virginia, a project estimated to create up to 800 permanent jobs, Gov. Jim Justice said.
Once it clears regulatory hurdles, Fidelis New Energy will locate its Mountaineer GigaSystem facility on 1,000 acres in Point Pleasant along the Ohio River in Mason County.
The project would be built in four phases, with each one producing more than 500 metric tons of hydrogen per day. Operations are expected to begin in 2028, the governor said.
The hydrogen would power the company’s data center campus planned for the site and also be transported for other industries such as greenhouses, transportation and steel production, Justice said
Under the company’s plan, the project would remove and annually store about 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions underground, beneath state forests, wildlife management areas and other state-owned properties.
“We’re going to move forward in a way that is absolutely environmentally sound, first and foremost,” Justice said at the state Culture Center.
Fidelis New Energy CEO Dan Shapiro said the company also plans a separate $650 million investment to use hydrogen generation technology from Akron, Ohio-based Babcock & Wilcox at the facility.
Located within the Marcellus Shale region, West Virginia is the nation’s fourth-largest natural gas producer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Fidelis would become the state’s biggest natural gas customer.
Source : Journal Record
