Chesapeake gas, diesel sales company names new president, CEO
Chesapeake-based natural gas and diesel engine sales company Bay Diesel announced last week it has named Willard “Rob” Robins as president and Scott Wheeler, current president and founder, as CEO. This marks the first time since its 1982 inception that Bay Diesel has a new president. Robins joined the company in 2003 as a sa[...]
Qatar Investment Authority invests $125M in Arlington company
Arlington-based energy storage provider Fluence announced last week that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will invest $125 million in the company. Fluence is a joint venture of Arlington-based energy company AES Corp. and industrial manufacturing giant Siemens. The company will use the investment to develop digital products and deploy existing products to additional global markets. […]
Five Va., Md.-based electric coops form broadband association
With internet connectivity issues growing in importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, five electric cooperatives in Virginia and Maryland have formed a broadband cooperative association aimed at encouraging the expansion of high-speed internet service in underserved rural areas. The new Maryland and Delaware Association of Broadband Cooperatives (VMDABC) includes Millboro-based BARC Electric Cooperative and its BARC […][...]
ODU mapping tool to help site wind turbines
The answer, they say, is blowin’ in the wind. In August 2020, Old Dominion University won a $775,000 grant from the Department of Defense that will help create a “wind energy siting solution,” enabling offshore and onshore wind-energy developers to avoid potential conflicts with military operations and trainings. The ODU[...]
BWXT to work with Department of Energy on microreactor development
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected Lynchburg-based nuclear fuel supplier BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) to lead a $106.6 million microreactor development project, the company announced Wednesday. BWXT will work with two DOE-funded national laboratories to design and develop a small nuclear reactor. The DOE will contribute $85.3 million to the project, and BWXT will […]
Dominion files construction, operations plan for $7.8B offshore wind farm
Richmond-based Dominion Energy Inc. announced Friday it has filed the required construction and operations plan (COP) with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to build the utility’s proposed $7.8 billion, 2,640-megawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. “This is an important step in the process toward [...]
Dominion announces construction has begun on offshore wind vessel
Dominion Energy Inc. announced Wednesday that construction has begun on the utility’s new vessel that will ferry the workers and huge components needed for its planned buildout of the largest offshore wind farm in the country off the coast of Virginia Beach. Named Charybdis after the sea monster from Greek mythology, Domin[...]
Kitty Hawk offshore wind project to create 600 jobs in Hampton Roads area
Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Avangrid Inc., submitted construction and operations plans on Dec. 11 for the first phase of its Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind project, a development it says will generate $2 billion in economic impact between 2021 and 2030 and create nearly 800 jobs in Virginia and North Carolina. Located 27 miles […]
Amazon announces investment in two more solar farms in Halifax County
Part of a global renewable energy purchase, Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday it will invest in two more Halifax County solar farms, in addition to a deal announced in March that is expected to come online in 2021. The two new solar farms, which are expected to provide 70 megawatts and 51 megawatts of power by […]
Dominion, Smithfield complete first renewable gas project in Utah
Dominion Energy Inc. and Smithfield Foods Inc., both based in Virginia, completed their first renewable natural gas (RNG) project in southwestern Utah, Smithfield announced Wednesday. In 2018, the Richmond-headquartered utility and Smithfield-based food company partnered in the $500 million Align Renewable Natural Gas joint vent[...]
Volvo electric trucks to be produced at NRV plant in early 2021
Volvo Trucks North America’s plant in Pulaski County will manufacture its new battery-powered VNR Electric truck model starting early next year, the company announced Thursday. The largest Volvo truck plant in the world, the Dublin facility currently employs close to 3,000 people and builds heavy-duty trucks of multiple mo[...]
Appalachian Power denied rate increase by SCC
A rate increase sought by Appalachian Power Co. has been denied by the State Corporation Commission. According to a statement issued by the SCC on Tuesday, Appalachian Power was seeking to increase rates by approximately $10 per month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Appalachian Power earned profits that were […]