Announcement due on proposed West Keating natural gas synthesis plant
BELLEFONTE – Look for an announcement as soon as Tuesday of this week on the $400-million natural gas synthesis plant proposed for Clinton County’s West Keating Township.
The project, KeyState to Zero, had first been announced several years ago and there has been little recent word on its status. But developer Perry Babb has confirmed an update is to be provided on Tuesday. He told therecord-online, “It is a milestone day for the KeyState to Zero project and the Appalachian Basin and perhaps a low-carbon future for natural gas.”
An Associated Press story in August of last year offered this description: “It’s got hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, shale drilling, chemical production, economically distressed communities, a possible solar tie-in and an elk habitat.”
That same story said Babb was focused on lining up financing for his project studies and was in the pre-engineering and design phase. This week’s announcement is expected to provide some word on the status of those project aspects.
The last story in The Record, in August of 2020, said the project would provide 800 construction and permanent jobs. The plant would be built on a 30-acre site, part of the old 7,000-acre Winner tract in rural West Keating Township, nor far from the Clinton-Centre-Clearfield County line.
