Dominion Energy is planning to build an electricity storage facility at the intersection of Grey’s Point Road (Route 3) and General Puller Highway (Route 33) near Topping.
The planned 65 megawatt (MW) “Drake Power Facility Project” will be on 18 acres located on the west side of Route 3 across from the Dominion Energy substation.
The largest
With an expanded capacity up to 80 MW, this will be the largest planned battery storage facility being developed by Dominion Energy, Kelsi Jewell of Dominion Energy told the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors at the Aug. 27 work session.
Dominion Energy’s next largest storage facility is 50 MW under construction in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. Currently, Dominion Energy has 36 MW in battery storage.
It is expected to be operating in 2028, said Jewell, in her update to the board.
No zoning is needed. The Special Use Permit was granted by the board in 2022.
Storage
Large batteries will store excess electricity from the Dominion Energy substation located directly across Route 3 from the proposed storage site. When electricity is needed it will be sent to the substation and back into the grid.
This will even out the flow of electricity, which can be stored when not needed. A large solar facility is located near Hartfield about two miles from the storage facility. Another solar farm is located behind Middlesex Elementary School at Locust Hill, about a mile away.
She explained that electricity is mixed together once it is generated, meaning this facility will not store electricity specifically from a solar farm…
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