Wind project construction begins in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake - News 3 WTKR Norfolk
Wind project construction begins in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — An offshore wind project is having an effect onshore in Virginia Beach.
Dominion Energy has started onshore construction for its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. This week, crews began felling trees off Holland Road. Dominion says this type of activity will continue through mid-April.
7:42 PM, Dec 05, 2023
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Onshore work begins for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project
“We are getting ready to construct new transmission lines to bring the offshore energy that will be generated by the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to right here on the grid,” explained Carrie Rose Pace, Senior Communications Specialist with Dominion Energy. “Those offshore wind turbines are going to power up to 660,000 homes right in the Hampton roads area, and we have to get that offshore energy that’s generated to the electric grid.”
Dominion also had crews recently starting work near Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress in Chesapeake. They have installed gravel access roads as well as installed erosion controls and protection along wetlands.
They plan to finish the tree felling by mid-April to be not as disruptive during Spring wildlife season.
“There’s a bat species that’s endangered, native to this area, and they have a pup season that starts in the middle of April, so we want to get all the trees down before they start nesting,” said Rose Pace.
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Offshore construction is scheduled to begin in late Spring.
According to Dominion Energy, it includes 176 wind turbines located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, three offshore substations, undersea cables and new onshore transmission infrastructure.
As for the onshore work, Dominion Energy reports that it conducted a sound study which found that the sound from their work measured below the ambient levels already along the property line.
They say they’ve held several open houses and sent postcards to nearby residents to let them know about the project and they welcome feedback. Residents can use an online, interactive website to get more information including construction schedules and photos. Click here for visit that site.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.