Project will lead to 100 construction jobs and up to 150 high-tech manufacturing jobs

The Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County and Dominion Virginia Power today announced plans to develop an initiative to build a pilot demonstration facility for solar power generation and battery storage.  The facility would generate about 4 megawatts of power and be the largest integrated solar-battery facility in Virginia.

Solar energy holds enormous potential in Southside Virginia; however, the challenge is integrating this variable resource in a reliable way on the electric grid. Battery storage provides a means for effectively managing, storing and optimizing solar energy to regulate intermittency, enable peak shaving and increase grid reliability.

Dominion plans to ask the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) in Q4 2010 or Q1 2011 for permission to build the facility. If all approvals are received, the integrated solar and battery storage facility is expected to begin operating in 2012.

Additionally, Dominion has reached a Strategic Alliance Agreement with a post proof-of-concept battery storage manufacturer to maximize the benefits of this unique project for Halifax County. The battery supplier has engineered a green battery and coupled it with an environmentally friendly chemistry for alternative energy power management and storage solutions. The unique battery design significantly reduces battery resistance, cost, size and weight while increasing efficiency and power. As a requirement of the Agreement and prospective battery systems purchase order, the supplier must locate and operate an advanced manufacturing facility in Halifax County. The manufacturing facility would create up to 150 jobs over 36 months. 

In addition to the alternative energy market for batteries, the manufacturer, in conjunction with the University of Virginia (UVa), is working on a family of battery products that meet the power storage requirements of several other rapidly growing billion dollar segments. The University of Virginia will work with both Dominion and the storage battery manufacturer through its Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering and its Department of Systems Engineering, conducting all of its research related to this project in Halifax County.

“We are very excited that Dominion is considering Halifax County for this industry leading research facility,” said IDA executive director Mike Sexton. “To have parties such as Dominion and UVa conducting this ground breaking research here and the potential collaboration of our Clean Energy Center located at Riverstone will help bring the region to the forefront of energy storage research.”

Dominion estimates that that they will   invest up to $27.9 million dollars on the project and will create about 100 construction jobs to build the facility. The IDA of Halifax and Dominion submitted a $5 million grant proposal to the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission’s (TIRC) Research and Development Fund to help support the project. If successful in the efforts for funding from TIRC and approval from the SCC, Dominion anticipates they will issue an RFP later this summer for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the solar facility.