- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management provides final approval of
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind's (CVOW) Construction and Operations
Plan
- Army Corps of Engineers issues permit to ramp up onshore
construction activities
- CVOW remains on budget and on schedule to begin offshore
construction in the second quarter of this year
RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Energy announced
today it has received the last two major federal approvals needed
to begin construction of its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore
Wind (CVOW), keeping the largest offshore wind farm in the United States on schedule to generate
enough clean, renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes once
fully constructed in late 2026.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided its final
approval of CVOW's Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which
authorizes construction offshore. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
issued its permit to allow for permitted impacts to U.S. waters,
including the route of the electric transmission line that will
connect the clean, renewable energy generated offshore to the
electric grid onshore.
"Virginia is leading the way
for offshore wind as we near the start of offshore construction for
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind," said Bob
Blue, Dominion Energy's chair, president, and chief
executive officer. "These regulatory approvals keep CVOW on time
and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers
with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy."
Offshore wind's economic development and jobs benefits are
transformative for Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth. More than
750 Virginia-based workers – nearly 530 in the Hampton Roads region
– have been engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses
supporting CVOW. This work includes redevelopment activities at the
Portsmouth Marine Terminal, construction of the offshore wind
Monitoring and Coordination Center, maritime provisioning, ship
upkeep, heavy lift and rigging, cyber security, food service and
hospitality. More than 1,000 local jobs will be needed to support
ongoing operations and maintenance of this facility after the
project begins commercial operation.
"In an important step forward, we are thrilled to see the
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project receive two major approvals
that will place the nation's largest offshore wind farm right off
the coast of Virginia," Senator
Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Bobby Scott said in a joint statement. "The
progress on this project to date speaks volumes about the level of
cooperation between the Biden administration, the Commonwealth of
Virginia, and Dominion Energy, and
their commitment to the future of green energy in the Commonwealth.
We look forward to continuing to work together to see this project
through to the finish line."
CVOW will consist of 176 turbines and three offshore substations
in a nearly 113,000-acre lease area off the coast of Virginia Beach. Some onshore construction
activities began in November 2023
following BOEM's favorable Record of Decision and will quickly ramp
up with these last approvals. In addition, initial offshore
construction activities related to the export cable and the
monopile foundation installation is expected to begin in the second
quarter of this year.
About Dominion Energy
About 7 million customers in 15 states energize their homes and
businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy
(NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond,
Va. The company is committed to providing reliable,
affordable, and increasingly clean energy every day and to
achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please visit
DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
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SOURCE Dominion Energy