Global investment group and asset manager Blackstone said it will support construction of a 600-MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in West Virginia. The Wolf Summit Energy facility, which will feature GE Vernova equipment, is affiliated with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), a Virginia-based co-op that serves about 1.5 million customers through its 11 member owners.
Blackstone, headquartered in New York City, is considered the largest investor in data centers and infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI) worldwide. The company, through Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, also has recently invested in Hill Top Energy Center, a 620-MW gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania, and Potomac Energy Center, a 774-MW gas-fired power station in Virginia.
The final investment decision for Wolf Summit was announced on November 13. Officials said it will be the first combined-cycle gas-fired power plant built in West Virginia. The project is expected to create about 500 jobs during construction.
ODEC in July of this year announced it had entered a long-term power purchase agreement for the generation from Wolf Summit, which is located in Harrison County. At the time, Chris Cosby, president and CEO of ODEC, said, “The addition of Wolf Summit to our power supply portfolio is a key step in meeting the long-term energy and capacity needs of our members. By securing generation in the same zone where we serve load, we’re protecting our members from transmission constraints and congestion costs, energy price spikes and capacity cost risks—while reinforcing the reliability of our entire generation fleet.”
“Helping meet the rising demand for electricity from AI and other areas is among our highest conviction investment themes at Blackstone,” said Bilal Khan, a senior managing director at Blackstone. Khan, along with Mark Zhu, a Blackstone managing director, said the company is “proud that this project is expected to not only create hundreds of local jobs in West Virginia, but also generate more affordable, efficient and reliable power supply.”
“I am excited that the first-ever combined-cycle, natural gas power plant in West Virginia is being built using GE Vernova’s highly efficient and flexible 7HA.02 gas turbine that can provide capacity and energy for the rising AI and industrialization demands in PJM,” said Dave Ross, president and CEO of GE Vernova’s Gas Power business in the Americas. “We look forward to working closely with Blackstone to complete development and start construction of this important project for the community.”
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said, “West Virginia’s status as a global energy player is only beginning to be realized. Blackstone’s $1.2-billion investment not only signifies its commitment to West Virginia, it highlights our emergence as the leading state in the country for energy growth and investment.”
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners is Blackstone’s strategy for control-oriented equity investments in energy-related businesses. The group has committed more than $27 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager, with more than $1.2 trillion in assets under management.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
