Dominion Energy has been given permission to build a 2.6GW offshore wind farm off the coast of Virginia – the largest in the country.
President Joe Biden has granted the fifth offshore wind plan approval of his administration in an attempt to lower energy costs and create new jobs.
Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, located 23.5 nautical miles off Virginia Beach, is expected to include 176 Siemens Gamesa 14MW wind turbines.
Permission from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to build the facility was first requested in December 2020, but the approval process has taken three years. The first turbine installations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024, with completion expected in late 2026.
“Today’s approval of the largest offshore wind project in US history builds on the undeniable momentum we are seeing,” said interior secretary Deb Haaland, adding that the decision demonstrated the government’s commitment to “the clean energy future”.
The project is expected to create around 900 jobs in both the construction and operational phases, as well as generate $5m (£4m) in local and state tax revenue and $143m (£118m) in economic benefits annually during construction.
“Today’s announcement is the result of hard work by the BOEM team and our ongoing conversations with tribes, federal agency partners, state and local leaders, ocean users, industry and others to help inform the development of this project every step of the way,” said BOEM director Elizabeth Klein.
The US has set a goal of reaching 30GW of wind energy by 2030, as part of its broader goal of fully decarbonising the power sector by 2035.
Together, the five new offshore wind approvals granted during the Biden administration are set to supply 5GW of energy to the national grid.
Once fully operational, Dominion has estimated that CVOW could alone power 660,000 homes.
Last month, the National Grid connected Dogger Bank in the North Sea, set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm, to the UK electricity transmission network.
The announcement followed the disappointment felt by the UK’s renewable energy sector after no new offshore wind projects were bought by developers at the latest Contracts for Difference auction. A report by Robert Gordon University found that up to 95,000 jobs in the UK’s offshore energy sector would be at risk if the rate of investment and activity in UK renewables did not increase significantly.
