Another Hurdle Crossed as West Virginia Methanol Gains Construction Access for Pleasants County Methanol Plant
- 14-Jul-2021 4:00 PM
- Journalist: Harold Finch
West Virginia Methanol, Inc. received a major breakthrough after it got a nod from the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) for the construction of the Pleasants County Methanol plant in West Virginia. The department issued a minor source air permit for construction of the new plant on Monday, 12th July.
The Pleasants County plant will be the flagship project for West Virginia Methanol in alignment with its plans to build additional units with low feedstock costs to gain a market edge globally. The plant site has been strategically selected to be close to Ohio river, near St. Marys, West Virginia.
On 19th October last year, Governor Jim Justice inked the project and made official declaration that a site in Pleasants County, West Virginia has been selected by West Virginia Methanol to build a Methanol plant.
According to the company’s press release, the Methanol plant will be capable of producing 900 metric tons of high-purity Methanol on daily basis. Feedstock to produce Methanol will be Natural Gas which will produce lesser emissions as compared to non-renewable feedstock coal.
Total expenditure for the construction of the plant is estimated to be USD 350 million. The plant is likely to create approx. 30 high-paying jobs in addition to other construction work hours that will also create job opportunities.
Haldor Topsoe, a Danish company, specialized in carbon reduction technologies will be accountable for engineering, procurement, fabrication, and assembly of the plant and will construct three of West Virginia’s MeOH-To-Go plant units in collaboration with Modular Plant Solutions.
As per the announcement, the plant is expected to be operational as early as mid-2023, subjected to no construction or other technical and management delays.
On the occasion of gaining the construction permit, Lars Scott, Executive Vice President of West Virginia Methanol said that the issuance of the air permit is a major milestone in the development of the Pleasants County project and West Virginia’s abundant supply of natural gas provides a clean feedstock for the project and Methanol customers in the region will benefit from lower transportation costs.
