Governor signs legislation mandating transition to 100% renewable energy in Virginia.

Virginia’s governor has signed into law targets for over 21GW of renewable generation and more than 3GW of energy storage as part of new measures which will require electricity to come from 100% renewable sources.

Governor Ralph Northam has signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act which establishes a 5.2GW offshore wind target. It also establishes a 16.1GW target for solar and onshore wind and requires Virginia’s largest energy companies to construct or acquire more than 3.1GW of energy storage capacity.

The Clean Economy Act requires new measures to promote energy efficiency, sets a schedule for closing old fossil fuel power plants, and requires electricity to come from 100 percent renewable sources such as solar or wind.

The law requires Dominion Energy Virginia to be 100 percent carbon-free by 2045 and Appalachian Power to be 100 percent carbon-free by 2050. It requires nearly all coal-fired plants to close by the end of 2024.

13 Αpril 2020

IEEFA