A public-private initiative aimed at testing emerging energy technologies on former coal mining land in Southwest Virginia has signed a contract to develop a project on 65,000 acres of land mostly in Wise County owned by a major natural gas pipeline company.
The deal, announced Wednesday by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office, gives Energy Delta Labs access to a large swath of formerly mined land owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Corp. and managed by its subsidiary, Penn Virginia Operating Company Inc.
DELTA Labs, which stands for Discovery, Education, Learning & Technology Accelerator, has been a priority in recent years for local and state leaders eager to keep the energy industry thriving in Virginia’s coalfields and diversify an economy that has relied on coal for decades.
Could Southwest Virginia become a testing ground for renewable energy?
Built as a partnership between regional business development group InvestSWVA, the Virginia Department of Energy, the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority and energy and utility companies, DELTA Lab proposes to utilize Southwest Virginia’s rich land and existing infrastructure as a test site for new wind, solar, nuclear, battery, pumped hydro storage, hydrogen and other emerging energy technologies.
The Youngkin administration said Wednesday that the “more than a dozen projects” being considered in the plan would generate more than $8.25 billion in potential private investment, 1,650 new “good paying” jobs and nearly 1 gigawatt of new electricity generation.
“Reclaiming former mining lands in Southwest Virginia for development will create space where energy needs and generation can coexist, increasing opportunities for economic growth in Virginia,” Virginia Commerce and Trade Secretary Karen Merrick said in a statement.
Wise County Executive Mike Hatfield said in the release that much of Wise County has been difficult to develop because “private and federal ownership means limited access” and that the new agreement “will create game-changing opportunities that did not exist before.”
Energy Transfer, which owns both the surface and mineral rights to the land used by DELTA Labs, manages approximately 675,000 acres of land in West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia through Penn Virginia Operating Co.
Tara Kesterson, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Energy, said only one coal mining permit is associated with the 65,000 acres, for A&G Coal Corp.’s Lick Branch mine. No mining is currently taking place there, and the department is waiting for a bond to be issued after the cleanup, she said.
This story has been updated to correct the name of the mining permit associated with the 65,000 acres.
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