RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion
Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), today announced
the acquisition of an 80-megawatt solar facility in Virginia from project developer Community
Energy, Inc. Construction on one of the largest announced
solar facilities in the mid-Atlantic region is expected to begin later in
2015. The facility would enter service in fall 2016.
Amazon Solar Farm U.S. East is located in Accomack County near Oak Hall, Va., on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The facility's
construction was enabled through a long-term power purchase
agreement with an affiliate of Amazon's cloud computing business,
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
(http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2058121).
Interconnection agreements have also been secured with Delmarva
Power. An engineering, procurement and construction contract has
been signed.
AWS has publicly shared its long-term goal to achieve 100
percent renewable energy usage for its global infrastructure, with
a milestone goal of achieving 40 percent renewable energy usage by
the end of 2016. The power from Amazon Solar Farm U.S. East
will enable AWS to increase renewable energy
on the electrical grid that supplies both current
and future AWS data centers.
This is the first project that has been approved under
Virginia's permit-by-rule process
for renewable energy projects with nameplate generating capacities
of less than 100 megawatts. The statute streamlines the permitting
process, allowing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
to issue bulk permits to construct and operate qualifying renewable
energy projects.
"We look forward to expanding our relationship with Amazon as it
seeks to increase the mix of renewable energy on the electric grid
powering its data centers," said Thomas F.
Farrell II, chairman, president and chief executive officer
of Dominion. "This project also shows Dominion's commitment to
building additional clean, renewable solar facilities in
Virginia."
"This ground-breaking solar project in Virginia shows what can happen when you bring
together a national energy leader like Dominion and a global web
services provider like Amazon Web Services with forward-looking
leaders in Accomack County and the
Commonwealth of Virginia,"
said Brent Alderfer, president of
Community Energy, Inc., developer of the project. "This is a
model for a new solar industry in the region and nationally."
The project is expected to qualify for the federal Investment
Tax Credit.
Dominion has 425 megawatts of solar generating capacity in
operation or expected to enter service in 2015 in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and Utah. Included in this portfolio is the
20-megawatt Maricopa West project in Kern
County, Calif., that Dominion recently acquired from E.ON
Solar. Construction is complete and the facility, which has a
long-term power purchase agreement with San Diego Gas &
Electric, is undergoing final testing before it becomes fully
operational.
Dominion has agreed to sell a 33 percent partnership interest in
that contracted solar portfolio to SunEdison, Inc. In addition,
Dominion is also a 50-percent partner in two Utah projects totaling 530 megawatts. That
joint venture is also with SunEdison, and the projects are expected
to come online in 2016.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and
transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,400
megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of natural gas transmission,
gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,490 miles of electric
transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's
largest natural gas storage systems with 928 billion cubic feet of
storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in
14 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's
website at www.dom.com.
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SOURCE Dominion