Fidelis New Energy and Babcock & Wilcox, through its wholly-owned Mountaineer C2H subsidiary, have joined forces for the development of B&W’s BrightLoop facility at the Mountaineer GigaSystem site in West Virginia, USA. This project aimed at producing a facility that will process coal, biomass, and/or natural gas into lifecycle carbon-neutral energy, utilising the abundant energy resources of West Virginia. The intended use for the carbon neutral energy created through the BrightLoop technology as it scales to larger units will be to power the on-site AI data centre campus.
B&W’s BrightLoop technology is an advanced chemical looping process designed for efficient and sustainable energy production, while minimising carbon emissions. The system is based around a proprietary particle-based oxygen carrier that allows the transfer of oxygen to fuel sources without direct air combustion. This indirect method leads to lower emissions energy production and captures CO2 as a concentrated byproduct, simplifying carbon capture and sequestration. This enables the use of coal, natural gas, and/or biomass as a fuel with far lower emissions than traditional power plants.
The project site established by Fidelis’ Mountaineer GigaSystem is said to have optimal characteristics and geography and has made exemplary progress in stakeholder engagement, site development, and advancement of carbon capture and storage (CCS) capabilities. B&W and Fidelis are global alliance partners combining B&W boiler technology and certain patented Fidelis process technologies. By harnessing this work and building on the parent company’s existing relationship with Fidelis, Mountaineer C2H will integrate seamlessly into the broader GigaSystem, maximizing efficiency and reducing environmental impact. The innovative plant underscores B&W’s commitment to leveraging technology to harness lower carbon intensity energy and power.
“Our Mountaineer BrightLoop project in West Virginia continues our history of projects in the state and will enable emerging technologies that advance reliable, cost-effective, and lower emission energy production that take advantage of our natural resources. We look forward to continuing collaboration with our long-term partner, Fidelis, as we co-locate on their Mountaineer project site,” said Jimmy Morgan, B&W executive vp and COO.
