Virginia could be looking at 1,600 MW of new natural gas-fired power in 2019 if a power plant project proposed by Dominion Virginia Power receives regulatory approval. The project, which is expected to cost more than $1 billion, would be located in Greensville County, VA.

In announcing the project on Thursday, Dominion Virginia Power said the combined-cycle facility would be the largest gas-fired facility in the state and have combustion turbines and a steam turbine designed to generate enough power for 400,000 typical homes at peak demand.

The station would be served by a Williams’ Transco natural gas line, which is being extended to the site, and the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), which will cross the station property when that pipeline is built (see Daily GPI, Feb. 9). Dominion said this will improve operational reliability by providing flexibility and redundancy in procuring the station’s fuel supply and that the ACP will be “critical to providing reliability, infrastructure, fuel supply diversity and helping to keep fuel costs low,” not only for the Greensville plant, but the entire generation fleet.

A joint venture of Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources, the 550-mile ACP would help alleviate current gas supply bottlenecks in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. The 1.5 Bcf/d line would originate in Harrison County, WV, run to Greensville County, VA, and then south into eastern North Carolina.

“We are proposing to construct the largest and most efficient natural-gas fueled power station in Virginia to bring our customers reliable, low-cost energy,” said David Christian, CEO of Dominion Generation.

Pending regulatory approval, the station would create more than 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction and be operational in 2019 to meet projected demand growth. When operational, the station would have about 45 full-time employees.

The company plans to submit its application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) in July. Construction would begin in mid-2016, subject to SCC and environmental approvals.

The 1,143-acre site straddles the Greensville/Brunswick County line with 740 acres in Greensville County and is near transmission and natural gas lines, water supply, railroads and major highways. The company already has filed the necessary zoning permit applications with both jurisdictions. The applications also seek to have the site approved for the construction of a future large-scale solar project.

Last November Dominion issued a request for proposals to begin delivery of electricity in the 2019/2020 timeframe. The power station in Greensville County was selected as the option most beneficial to customers.

Dominion is currently building a 1,300 MW combined-cycle power station just 4.5 miles away in Brunswick County that is about 58% complete.