NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR WEST VIRGINIA ~ Combined Cycle NG Power Plant & CO2 Capture

Middle Island Creek in Doddridge & Tyler Counties needs protection

From an Article by Sam Kirk, WBOY News 12, Clarksburg, WV, 12/12/22

WEST UNION (WBOY) — Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), a carbon capture energy company that aims to make fossil fuels more environmentally friendly, announced Monday that it is officially bringing a project to Doddridge County.

Plans for the Doddridge County development were announced in September, but now, a payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement for the project has also been approved by the Doddridge County Commission and Doddridge County Board of Education. This approval will allow the project to move forward with permitting and regulatory approval processes.

“This is an outstanding day for Doddridge County,” said Doddridge Commission President Shawn Glaspell. “We are so glad that Competitive Power Ventures chose Doddridge County for this innovative project, and we look forward to continuing to work with this forward-thinking company.”

The project will invest $3 billion into building the CPV Shay Energy Center, a 1,800 MW combined-cycle natural gas power station utilizing carbon capture technology. The release said that the project will go into operation “later this decade” and power nearly 2 million homes and businesses in West Virginia and the region while capturing the vast majority of carbon emissions from the facility.

“The County has been extremely professional and receptive to the CPV Shay project which represents a key pillar in CPV’s vision for a reliable low carbon future,” Peter Podurgiel, CPV’s Executive Vice President of Project Development.

According to the Monday release, the new CPV Shay Energy Center project will create 2,000 jobs during the construction period and several hundred long-term positions.

“CPV’s decision to site this project in Doddridge County is a game changer,” explained Jennifer Wilt, Director of the Doddridge County Economic Development Authority. “This investment will not only create a large number of jobs during construction but will also support high-paying careers for a generation to come as this area becomes a key player in the country’s decarbonization efforts.”

The release said that West Virginia is an “ideal location for a project of this magnitude” because of recent state legislation which established the basic rules for regulating the carbon energy industry.

Doddridge & Marshall Counties already have $$$ Billion Dollar natural gas processing facilities

Carbon capture has been one proposed solution for making fossil fuels more environmentally friendly, although there is still debate on its cost-efficiency compared to other renewable energy sources.