Dominion Energy Virginia has filed plans with state regulator to bolster the US state’s grid and add up to 3GW of new wind and solar power by 2022.
The plans have been filed with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) for approval under the state’s Grid Transformation and Security Act, which became effective in Virginia earlier this month.
Dominion aims to modernise the grid to improve reliability and the ability to integrate more renewable energy – up to 3GW under development or in operation by the start of 2022.
New construction and material standards will help reduce outages, while other measures will be taken to protect the grid from physical and cyber attacks.
“These measures include hardening substations serving critical facilities and the deployment of new intelligent devices and control systems which help energy companies detect and recover from events more quickly,” Dominion said.
New renewables projects will be a combination of assets that the company will develop or acquire.
Dominion also plans to seek approval from the SCC later this summer for the 12MW Coastal Virginia offshore wind project, which would be developed with Orsted.
The two-turbine demo would located in a federal lease area about 44km off the coast of Virginia Beach.
Dominion said the project will provide “valuable information that could lead to more extensive wind development”.
Dominion Energy senior vice president of power delivery Ed Baine said: “Thanks to the Grid Transformation & Security Act, Dominion Energy plans to develop a system that meets the increasingly complex demands and expectations of our customers. And we are doing it with more renewable energy.”
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Dominion files 3GW Virginia plan
By EBS