The Biden administration approved the largest single offshore wind development in American history as the industry continues to struggle, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced on Tuesday.
BOEM, a sub-agency of the Department of the Interior (DOI), announced that it is giving the green light to Dominion Energy’s massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, the fifth such approval of President Joe Biden’s first term in office, according to BOEM. The administration’s approval of the project, set to be the largest to date in U.S. history, follows months of severe financial struggles for the wider offshore wind industry.
“The Biden-Harris administration just greenlit construction of the nation’s fifth massive-scale offshore wind project, growing a new American industry, lowering energy costs, creating good-paying jobs and tackling the climate crisis,” White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said of the approval. “More progress and economic opportunity are on the horizon as we put to use every tool available to bring offshore wind benefits to American workers and communities nationwide.” (RELATED: Offshore Wind Farms Are Killing Whales ‘In Numbers Never Seen Before,’ Trump Says)
Not much interest in the offshore wind leaseshttps://t.co/EeKTqG90vw
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 30, 2023
Inflation, supply chain backups, higher interest rates and logistical problems have combined to threaten other East Coast offshore wind developments in recent months, with the situation looking so dire that several energy industry experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they anticipate some sort of federal bailout may be needed to save offshore wind. Several leading players in the industry have taken massive losses, paid considerable fines to terminate contracts or unsuccessfully attempted to renegotiate power purchase agreements with utility companies as these factors eat into their projected profit margins.
“We mitigated risk to the greatest extent possible by using fixed price contracts as well as hedging currency and commodity costs,” a spokesperson for Dominion Energy told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The company is confident that the project will be completed “on time and on budget to complete construction in late 2026,” the spokesperson added.
The administration wants offshore wind to provide enough energy to generate electricity for 10 million American homes by 2030 in support of its wider goals to decarbonize the American power sector by 2035 and the overall U.S. economy by 2050.
“The Interior Department is committed to the Biden-Harris administration’s all-of-government approach to the clean energy future, which helps respond to the climate crisis, lower energy costs and create good-paying union jobs across the manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction sectors,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said of the approval. “Today’s approval of the largest offshore wind project in U.S. history builds on the undeniable momentum we are seeing. Together with the labor community, industry, Tribes and partners from coast to coast, we are aggressively working toward our clean energy goals.”
The project is planned to stand about 23.5 nautical miles off the shores of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and provide approximately 2,600 megawatts of offshore wind power, an amount theoretically sufficient to power more than 900,000 homes, according to BOEM.
“Receiving a favorable Record of Decision from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is a monumental achievement for Dominion Energy and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind team,” Bob Blue, Dominion Energy’s chairman, president and CEO, said of the announcement. “More than a decade of work has gone into the development, design and permitting of CVOW,” he continued, adding that “offshore wind is a vital part of our strategy to provide our customers with a diverse fuel mix that delivers reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy.”
The White House and BOEM did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
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