New Federal Agreement Will Speed Up Virginia Offshore Wind Development
The process by which offshore wind projects are reviewed and approved will be sped up thanks to a new federal agreement reached last month. This is good news for Virginia, as Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project (CVOW) is being singled out as the project receiving the initial focus of the new agreement. Once in operation, CVOW will have the potential to power 660,000 homes while creating over 1,000 clean energy jobs.
As the demand for offshore wind developments increases, the agency tasked with reviewing and approving construction and operation plans, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, has lacked the resources necessary to quickly issue permits. BOEM entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month that will allow USACE to provide BOEM with the scientific and technical resources necessary for approving renewable energy projects in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast.
This agreement will bolster efforts to expand renewable energy capabilities in the United States and in Virginia in particular. Both the federal government and the state of Virginia have offshore wind energy goals that this agreement will help to meet. The Biden administration has set the goal of developing 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030, and the Virginia Clean Economy Act passed in 2020 specifies that the state needs to develop at least 5,200 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2034.
Faster approval of CVOW will benefit Virginia in more ways than simply supporting the state’s clean energy goals. The offshore wind industry is expected to generate billions of dollars in business over the course of the next three decades, and the jobs that clean energy developments create often come with high wages and strong benefits, which will help create a better quality of life for Virginian workers. Virginia’s Hampton Roads region also gives the state the unique benefit of a wide, deep harbor that could be ideal for wind turbine construction, positioning Virginia to be a central player in the nascent turbine production industry. For these reasons, members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to BOEM earlier this year encouraging the incoming director to take action in facilitating a faster approval process for renewable energy developments.
Last month’s agreement will help to speed up the United State’s transition to clean energy. With CVOW receiving initial priority, Virginia will continue to lead the country toward a carbon-free future that prioritizes the creation of strong jobs and the continued development of innovative new industries.