Dominion Energy, Facebook Expand Solar Generation

Image via Pixabay

Dominion Energy and Facebook continue their partnership in renewable energy generation by adding 350 megawatts in six new solar facilities dedicated to Facebook’s data centers. The solar projects will be built by Dominion Energy’s service area in Virginia and North Carolina and will gradually come online by mid-2020.

The announcement supports Dominion Energy’s goal of having 3,000 megawatts of new solar and wind energy in operation or under development by 2022, as well as Facebook’s goal of supporting their global operations with 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2020. The new facilities are in addition to two previously announced solar projects in Surry County, Va.—Colonial Trail West and Spring Grove 1—which total 240 megawatts and were recently approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

The new projects are:

• 20 MW Montross Solar in Westmoreland County, Va. (completed)
• 20 MW Gloucester Solar in Gloucester, Va. (completed)
• 80 MW Grasshopper Solar in Mecklenburg, Va.
• 75 MW Chestnut Solar in Halifax County, N.C.
• 75 MW Pecan Solar in Northampton County, N.C. (completed)
• 80 MW Gutenberg Solar in Northampton County, N.C.

Dominion Energy developed Montross Solar while the other projects have or will be acquired from EDF Renewables, BayWa r.e. Solar Projects and Strata Solar. To date, Dominion has more than 30 solar facilities totaling 884 megawatts of solar generation operational or under development in the Commonwealth—enough to power more than 220,000 homes at peak output. In addition, the company operates nuclear units that provide carbon-free generation to supplement solar power when the sun is not shining.