Denmark’s DONG Energy, a world leader in offshore wind development has partnered with Virginia’s largest utility company, Dominion Energy in moving forward on the Mid-Atlantic’s first offshore wind project in a federal lease area.
Dominion has signed a deal with Dong Energy to build two 6 MW wind turbines in its solely owned Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. DONG is expected to begin the engineering and development work in order to meet the targeted installation of the turbines by the end of 2020.
Dominion Energy and DONG Energy say that the timing of construction and its completion is dependent on a number of factors, including the weather and the migration patterns of protected species.
Both parties in the agreement can foresee the project as leading to a large-scale wind farm in the federal waters leased by Dominion, according to the Virginia-Pilot Online.
Francis Slingsby, who oversees DONG’s partnerships in North America, called the agreement a “steppingstone to the jobs, manufacturing, port traffic, and innovation” that Virginia will have with the commercial development of offshore wind.
“Virginia is now positioned to be a leader in developing more renewable energy, thanks to the commonwealth’s committed leadership and DONG’s unrivaled expertise in building offshore wind farms,” comments Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy’s chairman, president, and CEO.
“While we have faced many technological challenges and even more doubters as we advanced this project, we have been steadfast in our commitment to our customers and the communities we serve.” The company also notes that this project will be only the second offshore wind project in the nation, behind the Block Island Wind Farm, and the first one owned completely by an electric utility company.
The Phase-One project will be built about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach on a 2,135-acre site leased by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals. Looking to the future, Energy. Dominion says it has the critical operational, weather and environmental experience needed for large-scale development in the adjacent 112,800-acre site leased by Dominion Energy from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
DONG Energy has signed an agreement with Dominion that will give Dong exclusive rights to discussing a partnership in developing the larger commercial site, depending on the successful deployment of the two test turbines. Denmark’s Dong Energy has North American headquarters based in Boston, Mass, and owns 22 offshore wind farms in Europe and Asia, according to North American Wind Power.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was on hand for the announcement Monday. McAuliffe, Farrell and other officials with the pilot project said it could eventually lead to 2,000 megawatts of wind on the larger BOEM site, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch.
