Dominion Energy, the developer of Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm, has secured the last two major federal approvals needed to begin the construction of the 2.6 GW project.
The approvals are keeping the largest offshore wind farm in the United States on schedule to generate clean, renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes once fully constructed.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided its final approval of CVOW's Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction offshore.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued its permit to allow for permitted impacts to U.S. waters, including the route of the electric transmission line that will connect the clean, renewable energy generated offshore to the electric grid onshore.
"These regulatory approvals keep CVOW on time and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy,” said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy's chair, president, and chief executive officer.
More than 750 Virginia-based workers – nearly 530 in the Hampton Roads region – have been engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses supporting CVOW.
This work includes redevelopment activities at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, construction of the offshore wind Monitoring and Coordination Center, maritime provisioning, ship upkeep, heavy lift and rigging, cyber security, food service and hospitality.
More than 1,000 local jobs will be needed to support ongoing operations and maintenance of this facility after the project begins commercial operation, according to Dominion Energy.
CVOW will consist of 176 turbines and three offshore substations in a nearly 113,000-acre lease area off the coast of Virginia Beach.
Some onshore construction activities began in November 2023 following BOEM's favorable Record of Decision and will quickly ramp up with these last approvals. In addition, initial offshore construction activities related to the export cable and the monopile foundation installation is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.