Dominion files proposal for battery storage technologies in Virginia

In a filing Monday with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Dominion Energy Virginia proposed a groundbreaking battery storage pilot project that could significantly increase the length of time batteries can discharge electricity to the grid. The Darbytown Storage Pilot Project will test two new technologies as potential alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries, both of which could offer strengthened safety features for battery storage. One of the technologies could discharge energy for multiple days. The batteries in the company’s fleet and across the U.S. have durations that, on average, are limited to four hours or less. The proposed project comes at a critical time as the company develops the largest offshore wind project in the U.S. and continues expanding the second-largest solar fleet in the nation.The pilot project, which will be located at the existing Darbytown Power Station in Henrico County, will test two alternatives to lithium-ion batteries: iron-air batteries developed by Form Energy and zinc-hybrid batteries developed by Eos Energy Enterprises.