By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON, W.Va. — Construction is expected to begin next spring on a multi-million dollar plant that will utilize locally-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”
