Largest storage facility in the company's fleet is now operating in Chesterfield County
Batteries store energy and discharge it to the grid when customers need it the most
In the latest expansion of Dominion Energy Virginia's growing renewable fleet, the company's largest battery storage facility to date is now operational.
Located in Chesterfield County, the Dry Bridge Battery Energy Storage System can store up to 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes for up to four hours. It also will generate approximately $1.2 million in annual tax revenue for Chesterfield.
The new system, which went online in late November, adds to Dominion Energy's growing number of battery storage facilities in the Commonwealth, including three in operation in Powhatan, New Kent and Hanover counties and two under development in Sussex and Loudoun counties.
Batteries play an increasingly critical role in electric reliability as the company builds the largest offshore wind project in the U.S. and continues expanding the second-largest solar fleet in the nation. Batteries can store energy from renewables during periods of low demand and then discharge it to the grid during periods of high demand when customers need it the most.
"Battery storage is an important part of our mission of delivering reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to our customers," said Ed Baine, President of Dominion Energy Virginia. "As our battery storage fleet grows, it means we can continue adding more clean energy to the grid while delivering the reliability our customers expect."
Completion of the Dry Bridge facility comes on the heels of several other major battery storage developments in recent months. In August, the company broke ground on a 50-megawatt battery storage project at Dulles International Airport, which will become the largest in its fleet once in operation. Since September, the company has announced battery storage pilot projects at Darbytown Power Station and Virginia State University, both of which will test potentially game-changing, longer-duration alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries.