WV’s Justice: Pleasants Power Station back online
August 30, 2023
White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. – Gov. Jim Justice opened the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 87th annual meeting and business summit Wednesday with what he called a historic workforce announcement.
“Omnis Fuel Technologies has restarted the Pleasants Power Plant,” Justice said. “For the first time ever, we are seeing a coal-fired power plant taking new life right in front of our eyes.”
The plant, located south of St. Marys, in Pleasants County, first came online in 1979; however, it ceased operating on June 1. Justice said the plant restarted the production of electricity Wednesday, after California-based Omnis Fuel Technologies invested $800 million to bring it back to life.
“This saved more than 160 West Virginia jobs,” he governor said, “and 600 jobs are projected when their expansion is complete.”
Omnis closed on its acquisition of the plant from Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management in July. The company announced that the plant has been renamed Quantum Pleasants.
Officials said the plant will be retrofitted to generate electricity with hydrogen, a byproduct of a nearby graphite production facility Omnis is developing.
“Omnis worked diligently with state and community leaders to maintain every job and ensure no employee lost even one hour of payroll during the recovery and restart of the power plant,” said Michelle Christian, vice president of Omnis Fuel. “This is a historic moment, and we are proud to be a part of helping West Virginia maintain critical power capability in the state and preserve 1.2 gigawatts of power generating capacity, enough electricity to sustain 1 million homes.”
Justice said the company is currently operating like a traditional coal-fired power plant.
“Coal remains an important part of the state’s economy,” he said. “They are going to more than double the amount of coal they need to operate the plant annually.”
Omnis will use coal to produce hydrogen, graphite and water vapor.
“Today, it is operating like a traditional coal-fired power plant,” the governor said, “but, in the days to come, it will run on hydrogen.”
The goal is to produce power with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, officials said.
“We drove down Route 2 with tears in our eyes as we watched the cooling towers producing,” Pleasants County Commission President Jay Powell said via satellite on a large screen behind the governor at The Greenbrier resort. “We also have the main stack producing now, too. We can’t be more thankful than we are today.”
Story by Fred Pace, HD Media