ST. PAUL, Va., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A convoy bringing a 400-ton component to Dominion's Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center project arrived on the construction site early this morning.

The arrival of the stator – the largest stationary component of the new electric generator – marks a major milestone in the construction of the 585-megawatt power station. Construction began in June 2008 and is approximately 65 percent complete. The station is on schedule to begin generating electricity commercially in the summer of 2012.

The $1.8 billion power station will produce enough electricity to power 146,000 typical homes at peak demand. The project is part of the company's "Powering Virginia" plan to help meet the growing electricity demand of Dominion Virginia Power customers.

"The stator's arrival puts one more big piece in place," said Charlie Scott, project manager at Virginia City. "This effort required a tremendous amount of teamwork, planning and coordination from numerous resources as well as local and state agencies in Virginia and Tennessee. Dominion greatly appreciates the efforts of all who made this accomplishment possible."

Other Images: Stator and rig Crossing Interstate 40 just east of Knoxville Stator with home in background Stator on site Turning off 58A

A jacking system will be used to lift the stator into place on the fourth story of the station's turbine generator building within the next few days. The generator's major moving part, the rotor, arrived earlier at the station.

The stator completed a 176-mile, two-week journey from a river port in Knox County, Tenn. The generator component was manufactured by Toshiba in Japan, shipped to Port Allen, La., and barged to a dock on the French Broad River east of downtown Knoxville, where it arrived in February.

The stator and the hauling rig that brought it to the power station construction site weighed a combined 640 tons. During the Virginia portion of its journey, the rig stretched for 265 feet and was 22 feet wide and more than 17 feet tall. The rig was powered by two trucks manufactured by the Pacific Truck and Trailer Co. – "Big Daddy" at 700 horsepower and "Big John" at 600 horsepower. Numerous state police vehicles, utility bucket trucks and escort vehicles of Barnhart, the heavy-haul company in charge of the move, accompanied the rig on its journey.

The rig provided a late-night or early-morning show for towns along the route. Residents brought out lawn chairs to await the rig's late-night arrival through their town and took pictures of the slow-moving caravan.

Barnhart manager Tim Fielder says the Knoxville-to-St. Paul haul was the longest of this weight in the company's 41-year history.  The hauling rig and its payload were also one of the largest loads to travel Virginia highways, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of more than 27,500 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power