Follansbee chosen for Appalachian Hydrogen Hub node, promising clean fuel and potential economic growth - WTOV Steubenville

Follansbee chosen for Appalachian Hydrogen Hub node, promising clean fuel and potential economic growth | WTOV

FOLLANSBEE, WV — A Hydrogen Node will be going into the old Koppers plant location in Follansbee.

Follansbee has been selected to be one location of nodes that is part of the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub that will also be connected to parts of Pennsylvania, Southeast Ohio and West Virginia. City officials say they're excited.

"The cleanest fuel that you can get so it is a great thing. It's moving the United States, it's moving to the state of West Virginia, it's certainly moving to the city of Follansbee and making us as a leader in this area, " said Follansbee Mayor, David Velegol.

So why was Follansbee chosen as a site? Velegol says he believes it's due to the effort Empire Diversified Energy put in and the location.

"Well I think we had a good story to tell. We had a good location that very accessible down on the river, it an industrial access and I think Empire has done a fantastic job on marketing that area and really going to all their resources to make this happen so I give a lot of credit to Empire for making this happen," said Velegol.

Once installed, Velegol hopes it will be a catalyst for more economic growth.

"Once our node is here in Follansbee initially to kind of just grow off that and other industries come in and want to use the clean fuel, to be close to Follansbee. We have a more area that is accessible to other industrial clients so it's just an area that can really grow," said Velegol.

The amount of jobs that the node could bring to the Follansbee is still unknown but the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub which will span three states which will create an estimated 18,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs. The node is designed and focused on clean burning hydrogen fuel as an alternative to diesel and other fuels.

There is going to be multiple fuels whether that is diesel fuel or it's LNG with the natural gas or whether it is hydrogen. They are all great, they are all great fuels but the hydrogen is the new things because of its cleanness," said Velegol.

Velegol says the exact date on when the node will be installed remains unknown.