Virginia-based utility Dominion Energy has proposed an offshore wind project totaling more than 2.6 GW.
If approved, the 220-turbine project would be located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach in an area the company is currently leasing from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The company has filed an application with regional transmission organization PJM to interconnect the proposed turbines to the transmission grid. Ocean survey work is expected to begin in 2020, and a construction and operations plan will be submitted in 2022.
“Offshore wind is an excellent renewable energy source, and this filing with PJM shows how serious we are about bringing commercial-scale offshore wind to Virginia, giving our customers what they have asked for – more renewable energy,” says Mark D. Mitchell, vice president of generation construction at Dominion Energy.
Dominion Energy is pursuing a clean energy future anchored by a 55% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. To accomplish this goal, the company is investing in solar and wind energy, in addition to nuclear and natural gas. The company also has planned investments in battery storage, pumped hydroelectric storage and other resources to support the intermittent nature of solar and wind.
Building on an expected successful deployment of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project in 2020, Dominion Energy plans to move forward with the new commercial offshore wind project in three phases, each totaling 880 MW. The first phase of the build-out will support initial generation of wind energy by 2024. Additional phases will come online in 2025 and 2026, totaling more than 2.6 GW of energy, enough to power 650,000 homes during peak wind.
The company began construction in June on the 12 MW CVOW project. Dominion Energy will leverage key learnings from the permitting, design and development of this project to build the new facility.
Applauding the announcement, Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, says Dominion Energy is “making history” as “the first U.S. utility to take a lead role on a commercial-scale offshore wind project.”
“We urge the PJM Interconnection regional transmission organization to accept Dominion’s filing to connect to the power grid so that Virginia consumers can enjoy this clean power as soon as possible,” adds Burdock.
Dominion Energy made its announcement today at the network’s “Sea to Land” event in Norfolk, Va., as seen in the video below:
