Dominion Virginia Power is reconsidering plans for an offshore wind farm after losing a $40 million federal grant because it could not guarantee service sooner than 2020, it announced Friday.
Mary Doswell, senior vice president‒Dominion Energy Solutions, said in a release that the company is disappointed. It will consult its project partners and stakeholders before deciding on its next steps, according to the release.
“We still believe that offshore wind has a great potential to deliver clean, renewable energy to Virginia,” Doswell said in the release. “However, we also recognize the unique regulatory and cost challenges involved in our project and appreciate the DOE’s desire to support other projects that may have an earlier opportunity for fruition.”
Dominion’s wind demonstration project would install two high-tech 6-megawatt wind turbines in federal waters nearly 24 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The U.S. Department of Energy chose it and two other offshore wind projects in 2014 to receive a second round of funding.
Doswell said in her statement the funding was withdrawn Friday because the company was unable to guarantee an in-service date earlier than 2020 for the project, which has a construction cost of $300 million to $380 million, based on current bids.
“This project is a first in many ways,” Doswell said. “As such, you need to account for many variables when attempting to lock in on a date with any degree of certainty.”
