Manchin Announces Tri-State CCS Hub Selected for up to $69M in Federal Funding

Washington D.C. — Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, announced that the Tri-State Center for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has been selected by the Office of US Department of Energy (DOE) Fossils. Energy and Carbon Management (OFECM) will negotiate up to $69 million in federal funding through President Manchin's Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. The funding will help conduct a site characterization study of four geologic carbon storage systems for the Tri-State CCS Hub supporting West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“I have always said that we cannot eliminate our path to a cleaner environment, but we can innovate to achieve it. The United States can produce fossil fuels cleaner than anywhere else in the world, and CCS is a crucial technology that will help strengthen our energy security while reducing emissions. “I couldn’t be more proud that West Virginia continues to lead the way in energy innovation.” President Manchin said.

President Manchin previously wrote a letter in support of the Tri-State CCS Hub. To see the letter, please Click here.

Project details:

tri-state CO₂ Storage center; Tri-State Project — Southern States Energy Board (Peachtree Corner, Georgia) intends to characterize four stacked geologic reservoir and bedrock carbon storage systems in the West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania region to better understand suitability for CO.₂competition in storage and caprock. Currently, the region has no viable CO₂ storage solutions despite a clear customer base (131 industrial facilities within 50 miles of the proposed project site reporting nearly 47 million tons of CO₂ emissions per year). Thus, this project aims to build the Tri-State Carbon Capture and Storage Center to support the decarbonization of the region. The project will characterize the target formations using data from geophysical methods and data obtained from drilling three characterization wells. The project will develop a Community Benefits Plan to initiate broad engagement and collaboration between Ohio and West Virginia state agencies. The Community Benefits Plan also calls for the establishment and maintenance of a Community Advisory Board, the organization of pre-drilling community engagement events, the creation and support of competencies regarding subsurface modeling to support UIC Class VI, allowing , establishing and growing relationships with regional historically black colleges and universities, and supporting exposure to carbon capture and storage and energy transition career opportunities. The project team will submit all necessary documentation to increase pending Class VI permit applications.

DOE Funding: $55,248,174
Non-DOE Funding: $13,812,663
Total: $69,060,837

For more information from the US Department of Energy, Click here.