US utility Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV) is issuing a request for information (RFI) for information on long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies.
Announced 23 June, DEV is seeking the LDES technology information for use in a pilot programme which will have an expected capacity of at least 4,000MWh.
Virginia legislation refers to LDES as technology that has 10 or more hours of storage duration when operating at full nameplate capacity.
The RFI requests comprehensive information covering several key areas, including company background and business model, technical specifications of the storage technology, deployment history and track record, commercial readiness and timeline, scalability potential and capacity limits, siting requirements and infrastructure needs, and supply chain considerations and material sourcing strategies.
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While the RFI represents a serious exploration of LDES options, DEV emphasised that it does not constitute a commitment to procure, partner with, or invest in any particular technology or company at this stage.
Beyond its technical objectives, the programme is expected to generate economic benefits for Virginia communities through local job creation, increased spending in surrounding areas, and new tax revenue for local governments.
In February, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation to promote new energy storage investments by the US state’s two main utilities, Dominion and Appalachian Power.
In April, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the legislation into law.
Under the legislation, Dominion will add 16,000MW of short-duration energy storage capacity and 3,480MW of LDES capacity by 2045.
Virginia operates within the PJM Interconnection region of the US electric grid. The state is experiencing increasing energy demand, driven primarily by the expanding presence of data centres throughout the region.
On 6 May, PJM released a whitepaper, “Powering Reliability Through Market Design,” laying out three distinct pathways for market reform, each with different implications for how the nation’s largest wholesale electricity market will procure resources, manage costs, and integrate new technologies like battery energy storage systems (BESS).
DEV has previously led an LDES pilot programme. In 2023, the utility agreed to pilot iron-air batteries from Form Energy and zinc hybrid cathode batteries from Eos Energy Enterprises.
The batteries were announced to be located at the site of DEV’s existing 336MW natural gas Darbytown Power Station and named Darbytown Storage Pilot Project.
In April 2024, DEV announced it was seeking five types of proposals, including new solar PV projects and new PV solar generation co-located with BESS. It would also look at new onshore wind, onshore wind co-located with BESS and standalone BESS.
Companies interested in the new LDES RFI will have six weeks from 26 June to submit responses to DEV.
