Dominion to switch 3 plants to biomass

subscribe

Major power producer Dominion Resources Inc's Virginia unit said it plans to convert three power stations from using coal to biomass.

If the conversion is approved, the plants could begin burning biomass in 2013, it said in a statement.

The company said the total economic impact over the 30-year life of the stations would be more than $350 million, including $30 million in local taxes and $180 million for the creation of more than 300 hundred jobs in the forestry and trucking industries.

Once converted, the power plants will generate 50 megawatts MW each and operate all the time, compared with the current peak production of 63 MW.

Biomass, a renewable energy source, uses biological material to generate electricity or heat. The company said the stations would use waste wood left from timbering operations to produce fuel.

Dominion also added that the fuel switch would meet the new emissions standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and reduce nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury and particulate emissions.

The power stations, which started operations in 1992, are located in Altavista, Hopewell and Southampton County.

Related News

oil rig

Global oil demand to decline in 2020 as Coronavirus weighs heavily on markets

LONDON - Global oil demand is expected to decline in 2020 as the impact of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads around the world, constricting travel and broader economic activity, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest oil market forecast.

The situation remains fluid, creating an extraordinary degree of uncertainty over what the full global impact of the virus will be. In the IEA’s central base case, demand this year drops for the first time since 2009 because of the deep contraction in oil consumption in China, and major disruptions to global travel and trade.

“The coronavirus crisis is affecting a wide range…

READ MORE
$300 billion plan to dump Russian energy

EU outlines $300 billion plan to dump Russian energy

READ MORE

Advocates call for change after $2.9 million surplus revealed for BC Hydro fund

READ MORE

coal plant

18% of electricity generated in Canada in 2019 came from fossil fuels

READ MORE

How waves could power a clean energy future

READ MORE