Work Expected to Begin Next Spring on $300 Million Hydrogen Gas Plant in West Virginia
Construction is expected to begin next spring on a multi-million dollar plant that will utilize West Virginia-mined coal to create a hydrogen-based gas for clean electricity.
The $300 million plant planned near Exit 9 in Princeton is one of several plants proposed for Mercer County and the surrounding communities by TNT Hydrogen. Each plant, according to company officials, will employ upwards of 100 to 125 people in addition to the new coal mining jobs that will be needed to supply coal to those facilities.
Tim Hawks, managing partner of TNT Biofuels of West Virginia and president of Hernandez Consulting & Construction in New Orleans, provided the Daily Telegraph Monday with an update on the project. Hawks said the clean energy developed from the hydrogen gas and metallurgical coal at the Princeton plant will be used by the 13 state PJM grid.
“We are processing the coal, separating the hydrogen,” Hawks said. “The hydrogen generation system is right there. PJM will accept the electricity. The electricity is going directly to the PJM.”
Hawks said the company is working with investors, including financial bankers and equity firms, and is close to closing on the financial plan for the large-scale project.
“This has been a two-year behind the scenes effort to get to where we are today,” Hawks said. “We are planning on breaking ground on Exit 9 in Princeton in March or April of next year. We are ready to start detailed engineering”
Hawks said the company also is looking at Exit 1 in Bluefield for a second plant. The goal is to build as many as 25 plants which could employ approximately 3,000 people. The Princeton facility would be the first plant and additional plants would be constructed over the next 10 years.
“That doesn’t include what the mines will hire,” Hawks said. “These are high-paying jobs. We start at $30 an hour.”
Hawks said metallurgical coal, which is used in the steel-making process, creates hydrogen gas when it is heated and carbon black, which is used for making tires in the United States.
Hawks was joined by several area officials during Monday’s stop at the Daily Telegraph, including Senator Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, Mercer County Assessor Lyle Cottle and Keith Olson, vice president of development for Bluefield State University. Swope is working with state officials to ensure that the project complies with all state regulations and Olsen is working with the company to help ensure that students, including those in the engineering technology fields, are available and ready to fill the hundreds of jobs the company will be creating over the next couple of years.
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Public Utility Commissioners Stress the Importance of Securing America’s Electricity Supply
Below is a message from Michelle Bloodworth, President and CEO, America's Power:
America’s Power is releasing the second in a series of videos, “Securing America's Electricity Supply,” to highlight how the rush to prematurely retire reliable electricity sources could jeopardize our power grid at a time when the demand for electricity is increasing rapidly.
Michelle Bloodworth
In the video, five state public utility commissioners describe the danger of recent EPA regulations and the need to maintain electric reliability and preserve America’s coal power plants. Their remarks complement our earlier video, “Powering AI and American Innovation,” and are timely as litigation surrounding the EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0 continues.
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U.S. Coal Exports From the Port of Baltimore Rebounded Two Months After Bridge Collapse
U.S. coal exports from the Port of Baltimore rebounded at the end of May 2024, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Shipments from the port’s two coal-loading terminals had stopped for almost two months following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The main shipping channel into the Port of Baltimore reopened on May 21.
In April, only 63,658 short tons of coal could be loaded for export, compared with 2.3 million short tons in April 2023. This small amount could be exported, even though the main channel into the Port of Baltimore was closed, because one of the loading terminals used barges to transport smaller loads to a vessel anchored in the Chesapeake Bay.
Coal loadings in May recovered to slightly less than one million short tons, with that activity mostly occurring after the reopening. In June, coal loadings for export soared to 2.9 million short tons, the most in the U.S. Census Bureau data series—which starts in 2000—as terminals worked through their backlog of vessels. Loadings in July declined slightly to around 2.0 million tons, although that amount was still more than the five-year (2019–23) average.
Coal exports in July typically are lower, as mining companies, railroads, and port terminals usually conduct maintenance during that month. This year, the coal industry made up for the suspension of shipments in April and May by increasing shipments in July.
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How to Reinforce and Recognize Positive Employee Behavior
It’s a fact — people are more effectively motivated by positive reinforcement than they are with negative consequences.
If you’re a leader who uses positive feedback and rewards when it comes to the safety and health performances of your employees, you’ll be more likely to see better results going forward.
There are some specific ways to best reinforce and recognize employees when they’re doing things right. Sometimes all it takes is a simple positive comment or a “thank you” that’s given immediately on the spot or soon afterwards.
Here’s a CORESafety infographic that explains more —
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NMA Presses Forward in D.C. Circuit Court in Defense of Affordable, Reliable Electricity
The National Mining Association (NMA) has issued the following statement from Rich Nolan, NMA President & CEO, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to issue an emergency stay concerning the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule, also referred to as CPP 2.0.
Rich Nolan
Statement from Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO: “While we’re disappointed that some of the justices failed to recognize the immediate harm to industry and consumers posed by this reckless rule, we look forward to continuing to making our case in the D.C. Circuit. By constructing a rule that offers power plant operators the choice of either employing technologies that do not yet exist on a commercial, affordable scale or shutting down, the EPA has wrested control of our nation’s energy policy with neither the legal authority nor expertise to do so, all at the exact time that electricity demand is forecast to double. If this rule is allowed to stand the results for the American people and economy will be catastrophic.”
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