Dominion Energy is set to acquire an offshore wind lease from Avangrid, Inc., near Kitty Hawk, N.C., for approximately $160 million providing another potential option to meet the growing demand for electric use.
Virginia Electric and Power Company, a subsidiary of Dominion, announced the agreement this week.
If approved by regulators and constructed, the offshore facility would have a capacity of 800 MW, enough capacity to serve 200,000 homes and businesses, and the project would connect to the company’s transmission grid.
“With electric demand in our Virginia territory projected to double in the next 13 years, Dominion Energy is securing access to power generation resources that ensure we continue to provide the reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy that powers our customers every day,” said Robert Blue, chair, president and chief executive officer of Dominion Energy.
To date, VEPC has installed 25 monopiles for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project with a proposed landing site in Sandbridge, just outside of Virginia Beach. The monopile foundations, which are being staged at Portsmouth marine terminal, are vertical, steel cylinders that are being installed into the sea floor to support the wind turbine generators.
Installation began on May 22, and Dominion has a goal to install 70 to 100 monopiles during the first of two installation seasons that run through the end of October. Dominion will halt construction between Nov. 1 and April 30 in an effort to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale at a time they may migrate through the project area.
A coalition of three public interest groups attempted to delay construction in Virginia alleging that required research related to the North Atlantic right whale had not been completed. However, a federal judge denied the injunction in May.
Service is expected for the CVOW project by the end of 2026. The farm will include 176 turbines that should generate enough energy to power 660,000 homes.
The 40,000-acre site in North Carolina is currently known as Kitty Hawk North Wind but will be renamed CVOW-South, according to Dominion. The site is located about 25 miles north of the existing offshore wind project in Virginia.
The transaction between VEPC and Avangrid for CVOW-South is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024.
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Crystal Graham
