US utility company Dominion Energy Virginia has proposed 15 new energy projects totalling 1GW of power for the state, which Dominion Energy claimed was the largest group of projects to be submitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC).
Owned and operated by Dominion Energy, the projects include 11 utility-scale solar projects, two small-scale distributed solar projects, one solar-plus-storage project and one standalone energy project.
The proposals also include power purchase agreements (PPAs) from 32 solar and energy storage projects operated by third-party providers, which were selected through a competitive solicitation process.
“This is the largest expansion of solar and energy storage in Virginia history and a major leap forward in delivering clean energy to our customers,” said Dominion Energy Virginia president, Ed Baine.
Construction of assets is expected to generate more than US$880 million in economic benefits across Virginia and will support nearly 4,200 clean energy jobs, said Dominion Energy in a media release.
In addition to SCC approval, each of the proposed projects require local and state permits before construction may begin. The distributed solar projects and the standalone energy storage project are expected to be completed in 2022, with the remaining projects planned for completion in 2023.
The projects will aid Dominion Energy Virginia in meeting the goals of the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s (VCEA) renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires that 100% of electricity sales in Virginia come from clean energy sources by 2045.
In November last year, Dominion Energy submitted proposals for nine solar projects in Virginia with a combined capacity of nearly 500MW.
“We are focused on adding significant renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, over the next 15 years while maintaining our commitment to excellent reliability,” Baine said at the time.
Also last year, PV Tech’s sister publication Energy-Storage.news reported on how Dominion Energy Virginia had increased its energy storage targets by 700% and its renewables by 300% as part of its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to meet the requirements of the VCEA. Its IRP aims to establish 24GW of new offshore wind, solar energy and energy storage in total over the next 15 years.
