In its 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), filed last week with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) and the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), Dominion Energy Virginia laid out multiple portfolio options to meet rising power demand.
Among the options the company is investigating are around 3.4 GW more offshore wind capacity, in addition to the CVOW Commercial, which, the company noted, remains on-time and on-budget.
Dominion Energy is also considering 12 GW of new solar, 4.5 GW of new battery storage, and small modular nuclear reactors beginning in the mid-2030s.
The IRP is not a request to build any specific project, but a long-term planning document based on a snapshot in time of current technology, market information and load projections. The plan demonstrates the company’s commitment to reliable, affordable and increasingly clean electricity.
The IRP is based on a forecast developed by grid operator PJM, which projects that power demand will continue growing at unprecedented levels in the coming decades. Power demand within the company’s delivery zone is forecast to grow 5.5% annually for the next decade and to double by 2039.
“We are experiencing the largest growth in power demand since the years following World War 2,” said Dominion Energy Virginia president Ed Baine. “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.”
Source:https://www.rivieramm.com