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A new first of its kind in West Virginia power generation plant is coming to Harrison County after a groundbreaking Wednesday.
The Wolf Summit Energy Project will be the first combined cycle power plant in West Virginia, producing 600-megawatts more efficiently by using both gas and steam turbines in tandem.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey was joined at the ceremony in Harrison County by representatives from Kindle Energy, investment firm Blackstone and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative.
He said the project will create 500 local construction jobs and significantly advance his goal to increase West Virginia’s energy capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.
“In those early days, when we talked about our 50 by 50 plan, a lot of people thought, ‘Oh my goodness, these guys are touched. How could you get from 15.9 gigawatts of energy to 50 gigawatts by 2050?’ And a lot of people said we were being too ambitious,” Morrisey said. “But quite frankly, I know the heart and soul of West Virginia’s energy it’s so resilient, and it has an opportunity to be America’s best yet. West Virginia is America’s energy state, and we have a unique opportunity at this point in time in our history with the President that cares deeply about American energy independence.”
The energy produced at the Wolf Summit site will be sold to Old Dominion — which serves Virginia, Maryland and Delaware — “to meet the growing local energy needs – including from data centers supporting AI,” according to a release from Blackstone.
“This project is particularly exciting, not only because we get to use (General Electric)’s most advanced class, most efficient technology, but also because we are able to deliver this and have a spotlight on this project when the whole world is clamoring for power, and we’re able to deliver it sooner than anybody else, and it’s really thanks to the work of all of our partners here,” John Baylor, Kindle senior vice president of business development, said.
The facility is expected to come online in 2028.