NICHOLAS COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – The Biden administration is sending $129 million in federal funds to help convert two Nicholas County coal mines into solar sites.
The mines are inactive on the surface, but there are several underground proposed and active deep mining operations ongoing, according to Nicholas County commissioner Garrett Cole.
The two sites will be utility-scale, 250-megawatt solar power systems that will provide power to roughly 39,000 homes in West Virginia. The project is part of a larger $475 million Department of Energy project spanning multiple states.
The project is expected to employ 400 people to prepare and build the solar site. There will be four operational jobs created.
Federal funds will provide for workforce revitalization in addition to the solar site and establish a Coal Transition Workforce Center to help prepare the local workforce for additional opportunities in clean energy production.
The center will be established in partnership with New River Community and Technical College, Mana Group, and the National Association of Counties Research Foundation.
In total, the project could generate up to $18.5 million in property taxes over the 40 years that the site is expected to last.
