- Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issues Final Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW)
commercial project
- Final EIS analyzes potential environmental impacts and
mitigation measures of CVOW
- CVOW remains on budget and on schedule; Dominion Energy
expects to begin offshore construction in early 2024 and is
expected to conclude in late 2026
RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 25,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Energy's Coastal
Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project reached a major
regulatory milestone today when the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management announced it has completed its environmental analysis of
the 2.6-gigawatt project planned off the Virginia Beach coast.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) reflects feedback
from Tribal Nations, ocean users, local communities, the offshore
wind industry and other interested stakeholders, and analyzes
potential environmental impacts and mitigation measures associated
with CVOW's construction. The Notice of Availability for the final
EIS will publish in the Federal Register on Friday, September 29, 2023.
"The completion of CVOW's environmental review is another
significant milestone to keep the project on time and on budget.
Regulated offshore wind has many benefits for our customers and
local economies – it's fuel free, emissions free and diversifies
our fuel mix to maintain the reliability of the grid," said
Bob Blue, Dominion Energy's chair,
president and chief executive officer. "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."
As the largest offshore wind project under development in
the United States, CVOW will
produce enough carbon-free electricity for 660,000 Virginia homes and generate expected fuel
savings of more than $3 billion for
customers during the project's first 10 years of operation.
The EIS reflects public comments as well as extensive studies,
evaluations and designs to maximize CVOW's environmental benefits
and minimize potential impacts. This includes actions taken
offshore to minimize impacts to marine life, such as North Atlantic
right whales, and actions taken onshore to design and build a
transmission route that avoids impacts to natural and cultural
resources and environmental justice communities to the maximum
extent possible.
Dominion Energy is proposing to construct 176 14.7-megawatt wind
turbines and three offshore substations in a 112,800-acre
commercial lease area located 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast.
Offshore wind's economic development and jobs benefits are
transformative for Hampton Roads
and the Commonwealth, including diverse communities. CVOW is
expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during
construction and more than a thousand during operations, while
attracting companies to make investments to make Virginia a hub for offshore wind development
and support.
There are more than 750 Virginia-based workers – nearly 530 in
the Hampton Roads region –
currently engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses
supporting CVOW and future offshore wind development, including
redevelopment work at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, construction
of the offshore wind Monitoring and Coordination Center, maritime
provisioning, ship repairs, divers, heavy lift and rigging, cyber
security, food service and hospitality.
About Dominion Energy
About 7 million customers in 15
states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or
natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in
Richmond, Va. The company is
committed to safely providing reliable, affordable and sustainable
energy and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please
visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dominion-energy-advances-coastal-virginia-offshore-wind-commercial-project-announces-federal-regulatory-agency-completes-environmental-analysis-301937616.html
SOURCE Dominion Energy