The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub officially has a base of operations inside the former Mylan pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Morgantown.

A group of state, local and business stakeholders in the project gathered at the West Virginia University-owned property Wednesday for a ribbon cutting celebrating the opening of the ARCH2 Program Office.

The office will serve as headquarters for the multi-state initiative backed by more than $925 million in federal funds that aims to develop a hydrogen energy industry in the region.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said the building, which the university purchased for $1 in 2022 from the health care company Viatris, is the perfect home from which to launch ARCH2.

“It’s wonderful to see WVU repurposing an excellent facility into an excellent facility of the future,” she said.

The $1-deal was “the best negotiation we’ve ever had,” said WVU President Dr. E. Gordon Gee.

“It has turned about to be a great Innovation Center, one of the hubs of innovation in this state and also in the country,” he said.

ARCH2 will allow West Virginia to benefit from one of its as-of-yet untapped resources, Gee said.

“Hydrogen, the fuel of the future, is in abundance here in this state,” he said. “So much of what we have is in abundance — coal, oil and gas, hydrogen, wind, solar and almost anything you can imagine.”

“Now we have an opportunity to capitalize on that and make sure our future is a West Virginia future,” Gee said.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said ARCH2 fits into West Virginia’s longstanding role as one of the nation’s leading energy producers.

“West Virginia has been a leading driver of energy since our conception, since we became a state, and, right now, we’re still a leading driver,” he said. “We are in a tremendous location right now —all the investments that’s been made for the state of West Virginia to take advantage of and be able to offer jobs and, really, careers.”

Lou Von Thaer, president and CEO of the nonprofit research and development organization Battelle, one of the managing partners of ARCH2, said Wednesday’s ribbon cutting marks the start a years-long, collaborative process.

“Once you cut the tape at the starting line, there’s a lot of work to do,” he said. “We’ll start our marathon now.”

ARCH2 is among seven regional hydrogen hub projects announced by the Biden administration in October 2023.

ARCH2 will consist of hydrogen pipelines, multiple hydrogen fueling stations and permanent CO2 storage infrastructure in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

ARCH2 is “a collaborative initiative” among the U.S. Department of Energy, “private industry, state and local governments, academic and technology institutions, nonprofit organizations and community groups working together to build a safe and sustainable clean hydrogen ecosystem in Appalachia,” according to information from the ARCH2 website.

Development partners are Air Liquide, CNX Resources Corp., Enbridge Gas Ohio, Empire Diversified Energy, EQT Corp., Fidelis New Energy, Hog Lick Aggregates, Hope Gas Inc., Independence Hydrogen, KeyState and Plug Power.

Management of ARCH2 is led by Battelle, Allegheny Science and Technology, GTI Energy and TRC Companies, with support from the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

The first $30 million toward the ARCH2 project was recently issued by the Department of Energy.

The first tranche of funds will go toward “design and planning,” according to Capito.

“It will be further solidifying the partnerships and actually getting more specific,” she said. “In the initial phase, it was where we were going to be doing production and who was going to be using the product and how we’re going to build pipelines. This will be more granular and much more in the design phase.”

The West Virginia Hydrogen Hub Coalition, whose members include Capito, Manchin, Gov. Jim Justice and former U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., issued a release celebrating the initial $30 million award.

“West Virginia is an ‘all of the above’ energy state, and harnessing the power of hydrogen allows us to create new economic opportunities and high-quality jobs for our communities,” Justice said. “I’m proud that West Virginia will continue its tradition as an innovative, energy-producing state.”

The ARCH2 Program Office is located at the WVU Innovation Corporation at 781 Chestnut Ridge Road in Morgantown.

For more information, visit www.arch2hub.com.