The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed its environmental review of the proposed Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project.
The CVOW project, being developed by Dominion Energy and located offshore Virginia Beach, Virginia, would provide up to 2.6GW of clean, reliable offshore wind energy.
A Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Dominion Energy’s proposed project will publish in the Federal Register on September 29, 2023.
The final EIS analyses the potential environmental impacts of the activities detailed in the Construction and Operations Plan, which includes up to 202 wind turbine generators and their associated offshore and onshore export cables.
BOEM plans to issue a Record of Decision on whether to approve the project this autumn.
“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 CEO.
“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.”
BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein added: “The completion of our environmental review marks another step towards a clean energy future-one that benefits communities and co-exists with other ocean users.
“The best available science and knowledge shared by Tribes, other government agencies, local communities, ocean users, industry, environmental organisations and others informed the analyses contained in this document, and we look forward to continued engagement with all of our partners and key stakeholders as we proceed with next steps.”