Dominion Energy is seeking an unspecified amount of term coal for its Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center (VCHEC), according to a company official.
Daniel Carro, Dominion's manager of market origination, said the company is looking to buy contract coal starting in July 2018 and running through the end of 2020.
Dominion issued the solicitation on May 16 and is accepting proposals until June 5, he added.
The company did not specify how much coal they're looking to buy, but "will be quite a bit."
Carro said the company is seeking coal with a heat content between 4,000 Btu/lb and 13,000 Btu/lb.
Besides the heat content, Dominion did not specify coal specifications, such as moisture content, ash content or sulfur content, because the company wants to "entertain all offers due to the versatility of the plant," Carro said. "However, VCHEC can typically take up to about 40% ash, and the moisture is usually capped around 8%."
The plant can only accept coal deliveries via truck, not by rail, he added.
The $1.8 billion (VCHEC), located in St. Paul, Virginia, is a hybrid station that can burn mine coal, gob coal and waste mass. Up to 20% of its annual burn comes from biomass (up to 537,000 tons), according to the company.
VCHEC began commercial operations in July 2012 and has a net generating capacity of 600 MW.
Since becoming commercial, the plant has only issued one coal solicitation before the current one.
