Dominion planning nearly 24GW of renewable capacity and battery storage in Virginia by 2035.

Dominion Energy Virginia anticipates a massive roll-out of solar and offshore wind generation over the next 15 years as the utility reduces emissions and aligns its portfolio with Virginia’s new clean energy mandates.

The Dominion Energy Inc. subsidiary, known legally as Virginia Electric and Power Co., plans to add about 5,100 MW of offshore wind, nearly 16,000 MW of solar and about 2,700 MW of energy storage to its portfolio through the end of 2035, according to its 2020 integrated resource plan filed May 1 with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

While Dominion Energy Virginia has called for the addition of between 2,425 MW and nearly 3,700 MW of natural gas capacity in previous forecasts, the 2020 integrated resource plan, or IRP, includes “placeholders” for only two 485-MW natural gas-fired facilities. The utility said this is necessary “to address probable system reliability issues resulting from the addition of significant renewable energy resources and the retirement of coal-fired facilities.”

Dominion Energy Virginia in a May 1 news release said it also has issued a request for proposals seeking bids for up to 1,000 MW of solar and onshore wind generation, as well as up to 250 MW of energy storage.

The Virginia Clean Economy Act, which takes effect July 1, requires American Electric Power Co. Inc. utility Appalachian Power Co. to procure 100% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2050, while Dominion Energy Virginia must hit that benchmark by 2045.

Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power must “retire all generating units principally fueled by oil with a rated capacity in excess of 500 [MW] and all coal-fired electric generating units operating in the Commonwealth” by Dec. 31, 2024. The bill provides an exception for coal plants co-owned with a cooperative utility and for Dominion Energy Virginia’s 624-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center. The law requires the utilities to “retire all other electric generating units located in the Commonwealth that emit carbon as a by-product of combusting fuel to generate electricity” by Dec. 31, 2045.

4 May 2020

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