West Virginia to host clean hydrogen complex
SUMMARY
Four-phase blue hydrogen facility could capture 10mn tonnes/year of CO2.
By Dale LunanPOSTED IN:
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said August 16 his state had been selected by Houston’s New Fidelis Energy as the site for a new carbon neutral hydrogen production facility – the Mountaineer GigaSystem™.
Mountaineer will utilise proprietary New Fidelis technology to produce hydrogen with zero lifecycle carbon emissions from natural gas and using carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and renewable energy, a statement from Justice’s office said.
The Mountaineer GigaSystem will be developed in four phases, with each phase designed to produce 500 tonnes/day of carbon neutral hydrogen. Capital costs for each phase have been estimated at $2bn, and the first phase is targeted for commercial operations in 2028.
As part of its incentive package, the State of West Virginia will enable Mountaineer and New Fidelis to conduct additional geologic evaluation for the required CCUS capacity. If all four phases are completed, the project is would capture and sequester about 10mn tonnes/year of CO2.
Pete Hollis, senior vice president and global head of CCUS at New Fidelis, said Mountaineer would serve as a major anchor for the broader Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which is being developed by Battelle with participation from gas producer EQT, GTI Energy and the states of West Virginia and Ohio.
Alongside the hydrogen production facility, New Fidelis will support the development of the Monarch Cloud Campus, which will be home to data centres powered by carbon neutral hydrogen. Fully built-out, data centre capacity could reach 1,000 MW, representing more than $5bn of additional investment.
