Virginia non-profit electric cooperative to install grid-scale battery storage

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Containerised battery storage solution from Powin Energy. Image: Powin Energy.

Powin Energy is delivering equipment and integration services to Rappahannock Electric Cooperative for what is thought to be the first grid-scale battery storage system to be installed by an electric cooperative group in Virginia, US.

Electric cooperatives and municipal utilities have been keen to procure renewable energy for their members in the US in latter years and groups elsewhere have deployed energy storage. Virginia only recently implemented a state-level policy, that will see the Commonwealth States go 100% renewable and clean by 2050 and as part of that policy, the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), also put in place a 3.1GW energy storage deployment target.

Rappahanock Electric Cooperative (REC) and its project partner, developer East Point Energy, said last week that work has begun on the battery project, which has 2MW peak output and 8MWh storage capacity. Construction will start this autumn and the project is expected to be finished early next year.

The system will be located in Virginia’s Spotsylvania County. The cooperative said it will provide “multiple values to the grid,” which will include providing resiliency to the coop’s members (who also share ownership of their energy supply group) in case of failures at transmission network level, managing wholesale power costs through the dispatch of stored energy to the grid during peak times and deferring the need to make costly upgrades to local substation infrastructure.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

System integrator and equipment provider Powin – which recently revealed its involvement in 200MW of battery projects in Texas using its custom lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery solution developed with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) – will be joined in the Spotsylvania project by technical and engineering support provider Indie Energy.

As with initial energy storage system projects announced in Virginia by Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s much bigger utility counterpart, Dominion Energy, the 2MW / 8MWh system will be used to help the energy supplier figure out its next steps in the energy transition and the role battery storage can play.

“In addition to wholesale power costs reductions and increased reliability, this project will give REC real data on how battery storage can best be deployed in the future,” the cooperative’s engineering and power supply manager Lee Brock said.

11 November 2025
San Diego, USA
The 2024 Summit included innovative new features including a ‘Crash Course in Battery Asset Management’, Ask-Me-Anything formats and debate-style sessions. You can expect to meet and network with all the key industry players again in 2025 from major US asset owners, operators, RTOs and ISOs, optimizers, software and analytics providers, technical consultancies, O&M technology providers and more.

Read Next

August 29, 2025
The Australian government has opened two CIS tenders in Western Australia, targeting 2.4GWh of energy storage and 1.6GW of renewables.
August 29, 2025
Potentia Energy, a joint venture co-owned by Enel Green Power and INPEX, has secured the first environmental approval for a grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) under South Australia’s new Hydrogen and Renewable Energy (HRE) Act.
August 29, 2025
French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen, which is now fully owned by Canadian investment firm Brookfield, has switched on the second phase of its 560MW/2,240MWh Collie BESS in Western Australia.
Premium
August 28, 2025
Energy-Storage.news Premium speaks with Sergio Melendez, storage sector manager at CAISO, and Ali Karimian, market optimisation director at GridBeyond, about regulating Bid Cost Recovery Payments in the California Independent System Operator market.
August 28, 2025
California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has pushed back recommissioning of the Elkhorn battery energy storage system (BESS) by approximately one year, to 30 June 2026.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter