Dive Brief:
- Dominion Energy has issued a closed request for proposals to assess the feasibility of constructing a small modular reactor at its North Anna nuclear power station in Louisa County, Virginia, the company said Wednesday.
- At a Wednesday press event at the North Anna site, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R, also signed into law a bill authorizing Dominion to seek a rate adjustment from state regulators for SMR-related development costs.
- “To meet the power demands of the future, it is imperative we continue to explore emerging technologies that will provide Virginians access to the reliable, affordable and clean energy they deserve,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Small nuclear reactors will play a critical role in harnessing this potential and positioning Virginia to be a leading nuclear innovation hub.”
Dive Insight:
Earlier this year, the PJM Interconnection, which includes most of Virginia, tripled its annual load growth forecast to 1.7% for summer peak loads and 2% for winter peak loads through 2034. PJM’s 2023 forecast projected annual summer and winter peak growth of 0.4% and 0.7% through 2033.
In its most recent Virginia integrated resource plan, released last year, Dominion said PJM’s peak forecasts are “driven primarily” by the state’s booming data center industry.
Dominion expects data center capacity in its Virginia territory to increase from 2.7 GW in 2022 to approximately 10 GW in 2035, according to Data Center Frontier. Dominion has connected 94 data centers in Virginia totaling more than 4 GW of capacity since 2019 and plans to connect another 15 data centers there in 2024, the utility said in its Q2 2024 earnings report.
In addition to 19 to 24 GW of solar, approximately 3 GW of wind, up to 9 GW of gas-fired generation and up to 10 GW of energy storage, Dominion’s 2023 IRP proposes adding up to 4.8 GW of nuclear capacity through 2048.
“Our most recent Virginia IRP includes plans for the first SMR to be deployed in the mid-2030s, with several other units over the following decade,” subject to change “as technology, customer needs and other factors evolve,” Dominion Director of Virginia & Offshore Wind Media Aaron Ruby said.
A third large-scale reactor at North Anna “remains a potential option, but we don’t have any other plans for more traditional nuclear reactors in our fleet,” Ruby added.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2017 approved Dominion’s application to construct a third large reactor at North Anna, but the utility paused those plans later that year amid a challenging environment for traditional nuclear builds. Though the combined license for North Anna Unit 3 remains active, Dominion would need to apply for a separate license to add an SMR at the site.
Still, North Anna is an appealing location for additional reactor capacity due to the existing transmission infrastructure and the fact that Dominion has completed “several site studies” in connection with North Anna Unit 3, Ruby said.
Dominion applied to the NRC in 2020 to renew its operating licenses for North Anna Units 1 and 2. If approved, the units would be cleared to operate through 2058 and 2060, respectively. The two North Anna units and two units at the Dominion-owned Surry nuclear power station together provided approximately 31% of Virginia’s in-state electricity generation in 2022, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Dominion has not publicly released details of its SMR RFP, “but it’s safe to say we’ve invited the world’s leading SMR technology companies to participate,” Ruby said.
