West Virginia Sees $3.8 Billion in Projects Under Construction

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more than $3.8 billion of projects that are under construction in West Virginia. Many of the projects center around fossil fuels, primarily coal and natural gas.

One of the largest projects underway in the state, and perhaps the one that has garnered the most headlines, is the much-beleaguered Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, which will carry up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas from West Virginia to Virginia, for consumption there and transport to other areas such as North Carolina. The project has faced scads of permitting hurdles, mostly dealing with environmental issues.

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has repeatedly struck down permits allowing the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest and waterways inhabited by endangered species. West Virginian Senator Joe Manchin (D) has tried to buoy progress on the pipeline, completion of which has been delayed four years, by tacking legislation onto "must-pass" bills.

Last week, the Senate again voted down a proposal attached to legislation by Manchin to greenlight the project. Project lead Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) says it is still aiming for completion of the pipeline in the second half of next year, although if the past is to be any guide, this goal may not be fulfilled.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Pipelines Project Database can click here for a look at projects related to the pipeline.

Another large project under construction in the state could be considered by many as another environmental bugbear. Century Mining Company Limited (Volga, West Virginia) started work on the grassroot Longview underground coal mine near Volga in 2020. The 4 million-ton-per-year longwall mine is expected to be completed next year, along with rail loadout facilities and a prep plant. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for more details.

Other coal-related projects include metallurgical coal miner Ramaco Resources Incorporated's expansion of its coal refuse disposal capacity at its Elk Creek Coal Mine Complex in Logan County. The project entails adding more than 387 acres of coal refuse space and also involves leases for coal reserve tracts to extend the life of the mine. The project kicked off recently and is expected to be completed next summer. Subscribers can click here for the full report.

But it's not all fossil fuel projects in West Virginia. In Moorefield, about 120 miles west of Washington, D.C., Papier-Mettler (Morbach, Germany) is wrapping up the renovation of a 330,000-square-foot brownfield site by installing new production equipment and systems to produce flexible plastic packaging. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for more details.

The state also boasts more than $810 million of power projects under construction. Among these is Dominion Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:D) (Richmond, Virginia) rebuilding of 64 miles of overhead, 500-kilovolt transmission line running between the Mount Storm and Valley substations to help improve reliability and extend service life. The project kicked off in mid-2020 and is expected to be completed next summer. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Project Database can click here for the full report.

Subscribers can click here for a look at all of the reports for projects discussed in this article, and here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).