Dominion Energy to enhance reliability by adding backup fuel storage at Greensville County Power Station

Three recent, real-world examples – the extreme cold snap over Christmas Eve 2022, the Texas deep freeze in 2021 and the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack in 2021 – highlight the need for backup fuel sources at Dominion Energy's critical power stations. To avoid fuel shortages during extreme weather or other emergencies, the company is proposing to add liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel storage on existing company property at Greensville County Power Station, which provides around-the-clock power to more than 350,000 customers.

This 25-million-gallon storage facility will provide backup fuel for Greensville County Power Station and potentially others to maintain reliability and keep customers’ lights on in the event of a natural disaster, extreme weather or other fuel supply disruptions or constraints, similar to these incidents:

Fuel shortages during the extreme cold weather during Christmas Eve 2022 caused rotating blackouts by peer utilities.

In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline, which carries gasoline and jet fuel to the Southeastern United States, was shut down for five days due to a cyberattack, resulting in fuel shortages that affected millions of consumers and airlines along the East Coast.

In Texas in February 2021, extreme weather caused a significant portion of the state's electric generating capacity to fail when demand reached historic highs, an issue compounded by failures of the natural gas delivery system, resulting in rolling blackouts and cutting the power for millions of customers.

This backup fuel storage capability is essential to the reliability and resilience of Virginia's electric grid, and the company is in the process of finalizing the project design, specifications and cost estimates.

Dominion Energy is an experienced LNG operator with a track record of safety and compliance and this facility will be designed with safety as a top priority. There will be multiple redundant safety measures, including leak detection, fire suppression and monitoring installed throughout the facility.

The company will work with local emergency response organizations – EMS, fire and police – from development through project operation to facilitate training opportunities on LNG safety and emergency response.

This project will provide positive economic benefits, such as job opportunities and increased local and state tax revenue, during construction and once it's operational.

According to a study from Mangum Economics, this facility will create approximately 300 jobs, generate $1.5 million in local and state revenue during construction.

Once operational, the facility could result in nearly 10 jobs, generate more than $21 million in local tax revenue over 25 year period.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Receive our newspaper electronically with the e-Edition email.

We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as they happen!

Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today!