Clean Coal Technology

Dominion is constructing an advanced clean-coal facility in Southwest Virginia. This station, called the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, will utilize equipment that captures carbon dioxide emissions, once such controls become commercially available.

Dominion also is partnering with the Virginia Center for Coal & Energy Research at Virginia Tech on a project to demonstrate carbon dioxide injection into coal seams that cannot be mined. If this technology proves workable, it could have major benefits for coal-fired power stations throughout the Appalachian region — including the Virginia City plant.

Additionally, the station will use advanced circulating fluidized-bed technology, an efficient, flexible, and proven clean-coal combustion process. Its advanced systems will minimize water consumption. And it is designed to use biomass for up to 20 percent of its fuel supply.

The station is located at a reclaimed surface coal mine site in Wise County, Va.

The project will have major economic development benefits for Southwest Virginia. This includes a peak of more than 2,300 construction jobs, 80 permanent plant operations jobs and an annual payroll of over $4 million.

When operating, the facility will consume nearly 3 million tons of coal annually from local mines — supporting 350 mining and trucking jobs. And it will contribute about $440 million a year to the local economy, according to a Virginia Tech economic impact study.