US utility Dominion Energy Virginia has outlined options for meeting future power demand, including an additional 12GW of PV and 4.5GW of battery storage.
The proposals are contained in Dominion’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which it has now filed with state regulators the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) and the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).
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While the document does not set out specific project proposals, it provides the framework that will guide investment decisions over the coming 15 years.
Dominion said 80% of the plan’s proposed new power generation was low carbon, including notably the PV and storage elements. In addition to those, the plan includes 3.4GW of offshore wind and an unspecified amount of capacity coming from small modular nuclear reactors by the mid-2030s. The remaining 20% will be met by natural gas, which Dominion Energy described as a critical power source to provide back up when the solar and wind assets are not generating.
“We are experiencing the largest growth in power demand since the years following World War II,” said Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. “No single energy source, grid solution or energy efficiency programme will reliably serve the growing needs of our customers. We need an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach, and we are developing innovative solutions to ensure we deliver for our customers.”
Alongside the IRP, Dominion has also filed proposals with the SCC for 1GW of new solar PV projects in Virginia. If approved, the company would have over 5.75GW of PV capacity under development in the state.
