Natural Gas Power Plant With Carbon Capture Planned For W. Va.

Updated Sept. 16 at 2:30 p.m.

A Maryland energy company plans to build a natural gas power plant in West Virginia that would capture and store its carbon dioxide emissions underground.

Competitive Power Ventures announced Friday that it would build the 1,800-megawatt plant at a location yet to be determined.

It will supply power to PJM, a regional electricity operator in parts of 13 states, including West Virginia.

The plant, which would go into operation later in the decade, is one of the first to qualify for an expanded tax credit for carbon capture under the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was a primary architect of the legislation.

In addition to the federal law, West Virginia recently enacted a state law setting rules for carbon capture.

The plant’s construction will put about 1,000 people to work, according to the company. Hundreds of additional jobs will be created in natural gas production.

The plant will use a combined cycle, which uses the hot exhaust gasses from the initial burning of natural gas to produce additional power. It’s a more efficient process.

The carbon capture system would remove 90 to 95 percent of the carbon dioxide from the plant’s waste stream, said Competitive Power Ventures CEO Gary Lambert.

The company will receive a tax credit for each ton of CO2 removed.

This story has been updated to say the plant’s location is yet to be determined.