Dominion Energy Inc. announced plans to develop more than 2,600 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2026 in what the company bills as the "largest offshore wind project" in the U.S.
Dominion said in a Sept. 19 news release that it plans to build the 2,640-MW offshore wind project in three phases about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va. If approved, each phase of the project will total 880 MW with the first phase complete by 2024, Dominion said.
The final phases are expected to come online in 2025 and 2026.
Dominion said the proposed project will be in the 112,800 acres the company is leasing from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to build on its pilot 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, construction of which is scheduled for completion in 2020. Dominion previously outlined the potential for $1.1 billion in offshore wind investments through 2023.
The company said it filed an application with PJM Interconnection seeking permission to interconnect the proposed turbines from the offshore wind project to the transmission grid. Dominion expects to begin ocean survey work in 2020 and submit a construction and operations plan in 2022.
The announcement follows an executive order signed by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam that calls for generating all of the state's electricity from carbon-free resources by 2050. The order includes an intermediate goal to generate 30% of the state's electricity from renewable resources by 2030.
The governor's order also includes ensuring that 3,000 MW of new solar and onshore wind projects are under development by 2022 and up to 2,500 MW of offshore wind is "fully developed" by 2026.
"Offshore wind is an excellent renewable energy source and this filing with PJM shows how serious we are about bringing commercial-scale offshore wind to Virginia, giving our customers what they have asked for — more renewable energy," Mark Mitchell, vice president of generation construction for Dominion, said in the news release. "Governor Ralph Northam has made it clear Virginia is committed to leading the way in offshore wind. We are rising to this challenge with this 2,600-megawatt commercial offshore wind development."
