CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Maryland-based power generation development company announced Friday that it has selected West Virginia for a natural gas power station that will utilize carbon capture and storage.
Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) said the 1,800 megawatt station could be in operation later this decade in Doddridge County.
CPV, located in Sliver Spring, Maryland, made the announcement in Charleston with U.S. Senator Joe Manchin in attendance.
“CPV is pleased to work closely with West Virginia to bring this project to fruition in the coming years. This project and technology represent a significant step forward for our nation in deploying low carbon, dispatchable generation critical to maintaining reliability as we address our collective concerns regarding climate change,” Competitive Power Ventures CEO Gary Lambert said in a Friday news release. “West Virginia has been extremely forward thinking at the local, state and national level, and we cannot thank Senator Manchin enough for his leadership in making this opportunity possible.”
Lambert said the project, which he said could end up being a $3 billion investment, was made possible by provisions included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act which Manchin’s energy committee wrote and the senator got through the legislative process.
Manchin said the Inflation Reduction Act is already paying off in West Virginia.
“I’m pleased Competitive Power Ventures is investing in the Mountain State and look forward to seeing the benefits of this investment – including long-term, good-paying jobs and supporting our regional economies – for years to come,” Manchin said. “Nationwide, large technology and industrial customers have made pledges to lower their environmental footprint, which often includes the sources of energy they rely on for their operations. A low carbon baseload energy source in West Virginia will be an asset to the state’s existing manufacturing and industrial companies, while also attracting future investments.”
WATCH LIVE: I’m proud to make a historic, multi-billion dollar economic development announcement in Charleston, made possible by the #InflationReductionAct https://t.co/yatRKzE1Uj
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) September 16, 2022
At Friday’s news conference, Lambert said he’s been impressed with the reception his company has received in West Virginia.
“People are all lining up to get this project done and everyone wants to get this done quicker but it is going to take us several years,” Lambert said. “We have a lot of studies to do, a lot of work to do.”
Lambert said the Inflation Reduction Acts provides certainty for projects like the one planned for Doddridge County by the way it expands 45Q federal tax credit for carbon capture.
“We have the opportunity now to invest and look at 20, 30-year investments and know that we have some certainty on how that’s going to play out for the next decade and that the incentives are going to be there one day, expire and then come back,” Lambert said.
He said those guarantees mean companies like CPV don’t have to worry about timing.
“Let’s just go and develop this project and make it a reality,” Lambert said.
He also credited the West Virginia Legislature for passing a bill earlier this year, HB 4491, which sets up a legal and regulatory framework for underground carbon dioxide sequestration.
“It helps clear the path for carbon storage and provides certainty there as well as we look to raise investors in that side of the business. They want to know if we put it under the ground the state is going to back it and long term that bill does exactly that,” Lambert said.
Manchin, who hosted Friday’s announcement, said projects like CPV are needed to aid the U.S. in keeping its superpower status.
“You have to be energy independent,” Manchin said. “You cannot maintain a superpower status by depending on foreign supply chains for energy. It doesn’t work.”
Lambert said the project will create 1,000 union construction jobs and then several hundred permanent jobs once it’s up and running.
Representatives of the office of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito and the state Development Office were also on hand for the announcement.