Electric News Releases

Dominion Installing Emission Reduction Systems 
at Chesapeake

RICHMOND, Va. -- Dominion (NYSE: D) has awarded a contract for the construction of state-of-the-art environmental control systems at its Chesapeake Energy Center that will help reduce ground-level ozone in Virginia's Hampton Roads.

Babcock & Wilcox Co. of Barberton, Ohio, has been awarded the engineering and construction contract for the $54 million project to install selective catalytic reduction systems on the station's two largest coal-fired units. Selective catalytic reduction systems reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, which react on warm summer days to create ground-level ozone, one of the components of smog.

“Dominion Energy is proud of its environmental leadership role,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy chief executive officer. “The work at Chesapeake Energy Center is a continuation of our efforts to improve the quality of life in Hampton Roads and provide reliable and affordable electricity.”

Construction is set to begin in spring 2002. The systems are scheduled to be in operation by spring 2004.

Chesapeake Energy Center, which is located on the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake, Va., has four coal-fired units. The environmental systems will be installed on Units 3 and 4, which generate 160 megawatts and 220 megawatts of electricity, respectively. Nitrogen oxide emissions controls will be installed on Units 1 and 2 (110 megawatts each) in the future. One megawatt is enough electricity to serve about 250 homes.

Selective catalytic reduction works much like a catalytic converter on a car. Flue gas containing nitrogen oxide emissions from the fossil-fuel combustion process is mixed with ammonia. The mixed gases travel through a series of catalytic layers where the nitrogen oxide reacts with ammonia and converts to nitrogen, a benign chemical that comprises 80 percent of the earth's atmosphere, and water vapor. Both are returned to the environment through the station’s stacks.

During the summer ozone season, the systems at Chesapeake Energy Center will remove about 2,000 tons, or about 90 percent, of the NOx emissions from the plant.

Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is one of the nation’s largest producers of energy, with a production capability of 2.7 trillion British thermal units of energy per day. The company has a power generation portfolio of more than 21,000 megawatts, which is expected to grow to more than 28,000 megawatts by 2005. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

# # #