Permitting for the gas-to-power plant project is not yet in place, but Dominion said it plans to approach the Virginia State Corporation Commission later this year. Provided permission will be granted, the Brunswick plant will have a capacity of more than 1,300 MW and is scheduled for completion by the summer of 2016.
Dominion said it already has received the necessary conditional use permits from the Brunswick County Board of Supervisors to build the station and has applied to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for the air permit.
Switching from coal to clean gas
The electricity generated at the Brunswick plant is earmarked to replace electricity from two ageing coal-fired units at two eastern Virginia stations that are due to be phased-out.
"We expect this new power station to operate very efficiently and reduce the amount of power that we have to import from outside the Commonwealth. Building this station also is the best, most cost-effective and reliable way to meet the latest federal clean-air standards," said Thomas Farrell II, chairman, president and CEO for Dominion, the parent company of Virginia's largest electric utility.
Dominion to retire several coal-fired units by 2016
Dominion announced last September it would likely retire several coal-fired units at its Chesapeake Energy Center in Chesapeake and Yorktown Power Station by 2016. "It is more cost-effective to close the units than install environmental control equipment necessary to meet new federal environmental regulations," the company said.
The switch from coal to natural gas with the Brunswick County station would result in a net environmental benefit.
Rampant electricity demand
Electricity demand is forecast to rise from Dominion's customer base: PJM Interconnection LLC, the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states, reported in its annual forecast that customers will need 4,000 megawatts more of electricity from Dominion during peak demand in 2022 than it does today.