Dominion Energy Virginia has announced potential for a pumped hydroelectric storage facility at two locations in the state’s southwest coalfield region: a 4,100-acre site in Tazewell County and an abandoned coal mine in Wise County.
The company has filed a preliminary permit for the Tazewell location with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and asked Virginia Tech to conduct a study of the Bullitt Mine.
“The FERC application for the Tazewell site will allow us to proceed with the rigorous environmental, geological, archeological and technical studies, while further assessing the economics of the project,” Mark Mitchell, Dominion Energy’s vice president for Generation Construction, said. “In addition, the detailed study on the mine site allows us to explore the feasibility of abandoned mine cavities for pumped hydroelectric storage. We expect to make a decision on which site to advance by mid-2018.”
The facility would store water in an upper reservoir, releasing it to a lower body of water and spinning it to produce electricity when needed. While the details remain to be seen, initial estimates calculate a single hydroelectric storage facility could see around $2 billion pumped into the coalfield region, as well as millions in tax revenue to the counties involved. Construction would see hundreds of temporary jobs, while the facility itself would require up to 50 permanent positions thereafter.
The Virginia General Assembly has encouraged development of such stations through legislation that requires all or a portion of such to be powered by renewable energy from the coalfield region. While an abandoned mine might seem an odd choice as a possible contender, the Bullitt mine has been closed since 1997, and its flooded nature means that mine cavity could theoretically be used as a lower reservoir. Dominion Energy has not filed a permit application for that site yet because they are waiting to hear the results of the Virginia Tech team’s feasibility study.
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