CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Governor Patrick Morrisey announced a significant economic development project in Mason County, where Fidelis and Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) have partnered to establish B&W’s BrightLoop™ facility at the Mountaineer GigaSystem™ site.
The facility aims to support an “all of the above” energy approach, utilizing West Virginia’s coal, natural gas, and biomass resources to power an on-site AI data campus.
The BrightLoop facility will provide energy to Fidelis’ Mountaineer GigaSystem site, which includes the 2,300-acre Monarch AI Data Center System.
This system consists of the Monarch Compute Campus (MCC) at North Point Pleasant and the Expansion MCC (EMC2).
Over the next decade, the project is expected to generate more than 3,000 high-paying technical, construction, and installation jobs.
“West Virginia is uniquely positioned to power America’s energy resurgence,” said Governor Morrisey. “With today’s partnership, West Virginia is set to gain high-paying jobs and help the United States compete on a global scale to power the future of technology.”
During his State of the State address, Morrisey emphasized the importance of increasing power production to maintain national security and technological leadership.
“America can either find a way to dramatically increase its power production, or China will eclipse our nation in a technological battle that will determine our national security,” he said.
The collaboration between the BrightLoop facility and the Mountaineer GigaSystem site was facilitated by Governor Morrisey, the West Virginia Department of Commerce, and the West Virginia Department of Economic Development.
“We want to thank Governor Morrisey, Secretary Matthew Herridge and Director Michael Graney for helping to facilitate the implementation of these important projects. Their cooperation in supporting an ‘all of the above’ energy policy will keep West Virginia a leader in energy and make the state a leader in energy-intensive industries such as data centers,” said Dan Shapiro, Co-Founder and CEO of Fidelis, in a company press release.
The Mountaineer GigaSystem site will include several key projects:
- Mountaineer Coal to Hydrogen: A chemical looping process that converts West Virginia coal into hydrogen, steam, electricity, or syngas. The first phase will use 200 tons of coal per day, with potential expansion up to 2,900 tons daily.
- Monarch Compute Campus: Two sites covering more than 1,000 acres to support data centers.
- Mountaineer AtmosClear: A biomass power plant designed to assist with forestry management, which could also expand huntable land for West Virginia residents.
- Mountaineer Hydrogen: A natural gas-powered reforming process to generate blue hydrogen for local businesses.
