By Paula C. Squires
Construction on Dominion’s coal-fired power plant in Wise County continues on schedule despite this winter’s major storms. The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center is more than 55 percent complete, according to Greg Edwards, a spokesman for the company in St. Paul. At the end of December, the site employed 1,089 workers, with 38.3 percent of them coming from Wise County and the surrounding region. Nearly 20 percent of the construction work force hails from Wise and Russell counties.
The $1.8 billion, 585-megawatt project is on budget, says Edwards, and will begin commercial operation in the summer of 2012. The power plant will burn roughly 2.5 million tons of coal and 1.8 million tons of biomass (wood chips) yearly. Upon completion, the station will employ 75 to 80 people and support roughly another 350 mining and trucking jobs.
A major part, the generator stator, should arrive around March 15 following a two-week trip by truck from Knoxville.
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