Dominion, RWE Ink Deal to Boost Solar's Role in Virginia

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Dominion Energy Incorporated (NYSE:D) (Richmond, Virginia) added some sunlight to its portfolio earlier this week, when it signed eight long-term, utility-scale power-purchase agreements (PPAs) with RWE AG (Essen, Germany) for more than 300 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from several developments across Virginia. Dominion, which is aiming for net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, already has about 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of its own active or proposed solar projects, including 373 MW worth set to wrap up before the end of the year.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 parent companies for active or proposed solar-power projects across Virginia.

Two of the utility-scale solar projects in the Dominion-RWE deal began generating energy for Virginians earlier this year: the 20-MW Pleasant Hill Plant in Suffolk and the 20-MW Watlington Plant in South Boston, which utilize 73,000 and 60,788 photovoltaic (PV) panels, respectively, from Jinko Solar (NYSE:JKS) (Shanghai, China). Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed reports on the Pleasant Hill and Watlington projects.

RWE already has a PPA with Dominion for its 80-MW Water Strider Plant in Halifax County, which came online in the second quarter of 2021. RWE acquired the project from Consolidated Edison Incorporated (NYSE:CE) (Con Ed) (New York, New York), in March, when Con Ed sold off its clean energy businesses in a deal valued at about $6.8 billion. Subscribers can learn more in a detailed project report.

Another project in the Dominion-RWE deal, the 75-MW Wythe County Plant near Austinville, is under construction and expected to be online next year. The facility is expected to use 333,000 thin-film PV panels from First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona). Subscribers can learn more in a detailed project report.

Among the Dominion-RWE projects in their earlier development phases is the 360 Solar Plant in Chesterfield County, which is designed to generate 52 MW, but currently is not expected to begin construction until 2025. Subscribers can learn more in a detailed project report.

"Each project has a PPA in place with Dominion Energy Virginia, the regulated utility company providing electricity to more than 2.8 million customers in the state," RWE said in a press release. "[Subsidiary] RWE Clean Energy will serve as the long-term owner-operator of each project." RWE noted it has an additional 24 MW of distributed energy resource PPAs contracted with Dominion Energy Virginia.

Financial terms of the Dominion-RWE deal were not disclosed.

Dominion is at work on several of its own solar projects across Virginia, a few of which are set to be completed later this year. The 80-MW Piney Creek project in Clover and the 60-MW Otter Creek project in Chase City are set to wrap up in the fourth quarter, along with the 25-MW Solidago plant in Windsor. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Piney Creek, Otter Creek and Solidago projects.

Outside Virginia, Dominion is at work on its $221 million Phase II expansion of the Hardin Solar Plant in Alger, Ohio, which it acquired from Invenergy LLC (Chicago, Illinois) in early 2021. The expansion will add 170 MW to the existing 150-MW facility, which currently generates energy for Facebook parent Meta Platforms Incorporated (NASDAQ:META) (Menlo Park, California). Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI project and plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned solar projects from Dominion, and click here for a list of projects set to wrap up this year.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).