Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind gains two key federal approvals

Dominion Energy's Bob Blue: "Virginia is leading the way for offshore wind as we near the start of offshore construction for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind."

Richmond, Va., headquartered Dominion Energy says it has received the last two major federal approvals needed to begin construction of its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, 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) has provided its final approval of CVOW’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction offshore. Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued its permit to allow for permitted impacts to U.S. waters, including the route of the electric transmission line that will connect the 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.”

Dominion Energy says that offshore wind’s economic development and jobs benefits are transformative for  Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 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.

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 Dominion Energy says these 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.