CPV Group LP said Monday it has selected Doddridge County, WV, as the site of a planned $3 billion, 1,800 MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant that would use carbon capture technology to minimize emissions.
CPV is majority owned by Israel-based energy solutions company OPC Energy Ltd., whose shares trade on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
The proposed power plant, dubbed the CPV Shay Energy Center, “will serve as one of the cornerstone projects for CPV’s decarbonization platform that will build on two decades of prior success in the development of highly efficient and low emitting electric generation projects,” the company said.
CPV said it expects the project to benefit from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which expanded and extended the 45Q federal tax credit for carbon capture projects. The legislation substantially improved the economics of pairing gas-fired power generation with carbon capture and storage, according to modeling by Enverus.
“Additionally, the state of West Virginia passed key legislation earlier this year to codify how carbon sequestration would work in the Mountain State,” CPV said. “As a result, West Virginia became one of a limited number of states to establish the basic rules of how this emerging industry will unfold, making the state an ideal location for a project of this magnitude.”
A CPV spokesperson told NGI that certain project details, including the specifics of the carbon capture and natural gas supply arrangements, “are still in development. Given the magnitude and complexity of the project, the overall timeline…will be dictated by the permitting, commercialization and interconnection processes.”
The Doddridge County Commission and Board of Education both unanimously approved a payment in lieu of taxes agreement “that will enable the project to move forward with permitting and the required regulatory approval processes,” CPV said. “Following permitting and construction, which will include up to 2,000 skilled jobs at peak, the project will go into operation later this decade and power nearly two 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,” said CPV’s Peter Podurgiel, executive vice president of project development.
Doddridge County Economic Development Authority director Jennifer Wilt said that, “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…”
CPV, for its part, said that, “By combining the most efficient turbines available with carbon capture technology, CPV Shay will provide a critical source of extremely low carbon, dispatchable power that will enable the growth and integration of the company’s renewable development portfolio without sacrificing the reliability that is the backbone of our society.
“The project, in addition to CPV’s efforts to repurpose former coal mines in Appalachia and put them back to productive use generating clean energy, will help establish Doddridge County…and the region as a hub for the energy transition.”
