BY: WEST VIRGINIA WATCH STAFF – AUGUST 16, 2023 5:27 PM
Point Pleasant will be the site of a hydrogen production facility and data center, a $2 billion investment, Gov. Jim Justice announced Wednesday.
Houston-based Fidelis New Energy has selected Mason County for the Mountaineer GigaSystem and Monarch Cloud Campus.
The company will implement proprietary technology to enable production of hydrogen with zero lifecycle carbon emissions from a combination of natural gas, carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) and renewable energy, the governor’s office said.
“They will be the largest natural gas user in our state when they’re up and running,” Justice said during an event announcing the facility. “The power that they generate will be used to power data centers and make West Virginia the absolute best place on the East Coast for technology investment.”
The facility will employ up to 800 workers when fully operational, Justice said.
The project’s four-phase construction plan will provide 800 full-time jobs and 4,200 construction workers, the governor’s office said. The Mountaineer GigaSystem is expected to be in operation beginning in 2028.
The facility will be financed with a three-year $62.5 million forgivable loan from the state Economic Development Authority. The financing was approved Wednesday at the request of the governor.
The loan has no interest unless the project does not meet job creation requirements.
The facility will employ an estimated 125 full-time employees in West Virginia six years after the project starts, according to the agreement with the Economic Development Authority.
The project will also involve a private investment of more than $50 million, according to the agreement with the EDA.
The net-zero carbon hydrogen will be used for carbon-neutral hyperscale data centers, greenhouses, transportation, steel production and a variety of other things, Justice’s office said.
The Monarch Cloud Campus will have net-zero carbon emission data centers on land secured by Fidelis within the Mountaineer site and additional land in Mason County.
“We are proud to have selected West Virginia as home to the Mountaineer GigaSystem where it can serve as a major anchor and support for the broader ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub,” Pete Hollis, senior vice president and global head of CCUS for Fidelis, said in the release. “The state’s position at the forefront of energy and chemical production in the United States make it a natural choice for a project such as ours.”
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