Largest US offshore wind farm Coastal Virginia bags key federal OK
Environmental go-ahead tees-up Dominion project for construction starting as early as this fall
The US’ largest offshore wind array, the 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) array under development by Dominion Energy, received its environmental approval by the federal government, teeing it up for full permitting later this year.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), lead regulator of energy development in federal waters, announced the final environmental impact statement (EIS) Monday for the project some 27 miles (43 km) off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“The completion of our environmental review marks another step towards a clean energy future – one that benefits communities and co-exists with other ocean users,” said BOEM director Elizabeth Klein.
The EIS analyses the potential environmental impacts of the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which includes a project envelope for up to 202 turbines, three offshore substations and as many as nine 230kV export cables.
CVOW’s final EIS “is the result of rigorous review and extensive public input from key stakeholders,” said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president for offshore wind at industry advocate American Clean Power Association.
“The completion of CVOW's environmental review is another significant milestone to keep the project on time and on budget,” said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy CEO.
“Today's announcement reinforces the confidence that the company, our vendors and our suppliers have in our project's completion, providing further motivation to maintain focus on delivering on time and on budget knowing we and our government partners continue to meet critical milestones,” Blue added.
Regulated market
In contrast to most offshore wind projects being developed in deregulated power markets of the Northeast, Virginia’s market remains tightly regulated by utility overseer State Corporation Commission (SCC). This enables Dominion to develop CVOW as if it were a conventional power project, which includes guaranteed returns on investment.
The utility has invested around $1.7bn to date, which it expects to grow to some $3bn by year’s-end.
CVOW is “estimated to deliver electricity at a levelised cost that competes very favourably with the nation's unregulated offshore wind projects,” Blue said at a recent investors event.
CVOW will produce enough carbon-free electricity for 660,000 Virginia homes and generate expected fuel savings of more than $3bn for customers during the project's first 10 years of operation, according to Dominion.
“The US offshore wind pipeline continues to grow as the CVOW project passes this important regulatory milestone,” said John Begala, vice president for federal and state policy at trade group Business Network for Offshore Wind, adding the project “is anchoring a critical corner of the emerging domestic supply chain.”