Dominion Energy to mothball 9 power units

• 6 years ago (2018-01-18)
• David Flin

Coal 276 North America 999

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Dominion Energy has announced that it plans to place nine of its older, inefficient, and rarely-used power generating units across Virginia, USA into a dormant status.

Paul Koonce, President and CEO of Dominion Energy’s Power Generation Group, said that the change is among dozens being implemented after a months-long review. He said that the company looked at factors such as the increasing affordability of solar and wind energy, and the abundance of natural gas.

Koonce said: “The company plans to put nine units at five power plants later this year into cold reserve status. When we look at the time, the materials, the people, when we look at the thermal inefficiency of these plants, and we look at the advancement of renewables, we look at continued gas-fired build, we just think this is a progressive step we can take to ensure that our fleet remains competitive.”

Le-Ha Anderson, a spokeswoman for the company, said that altogether, those units currently account for less than 1 per cent of the company’s generation. All but one of the units are either coal-fired or were converted from coal to gas. The affected power stations are: Bellemeade, in Richmond; Bremo, in Fluvanna County; Chesterfield, south of Richmond; Mecklenburg, in Clarksville; and Possum Point in Dumfries.

Dominion said that it will maintain environmental permits for the affected facilities. Anderson said that Bellemeade, Bremo, and Mecklenburg will no longer have units operating once they go into cold reserve status in April. At Chesterfield and Possum Point, some units will go into cold reserve in December, and others will continue to run.