The Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI) Thursday announced that Trillium H2 Power, LLC has purchased the initial 80 acres of land for a major 250-acre reindustrialization project that aims to reinvigorate manufacturing and the economy in the Ohio Valley and Central Appalachia.
The purchase marks the most significant step forward in the effort led by SODI and Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service PORTSfuture Program to establish a functioning public-private partnership aligned with organized labor – to plan for and execute redeveloping the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) facility near Piketon.
At the site, Trillium H2 Power, LLC (tH2) is preparing to build its $1.5 billion h2Trillium Energy and Manufacturing (h2TEAM) complex, which will transform land from the former PORTS facility into an integrated clean decarbonized hydrogen power generation and closed loop manufacturing facility producing clean ammonia and clean silicon.
In addition to Trillium H2 Power and its technical partners, SODI and OU, key entities involved in this effort include organized labor leaders in Ohio, local, state and national elected officials, economic development entities, and various other organizations in support of the reindustrialization effort. Essential to this project have been the land transfer assistance efforts of the DOE Office of Environmental Management.
“Workers deserve to be at the heart of any large-scale project,” said Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga. “The strong relationships forged between organized labor, industry and community leaders as this major project continues to evolve – and our shared goals for the site – will help ensure the PORTS reindustrialization creates good-paying union jobs and is transformative for both the region and its working families.”