Dominion Energy Virginia has signed an agreement and strategic partnership with Denmark's Dong Energy to construct two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.
In an announcement on Monday, Dominion Energy said that it remained sole owner of the project, and that the two businesses would start to refine agreements for engineering, procurement and construction. The business added that it was the mid-Atlantic's first offshore wind project in a federal lease area.
"Virginia is now positioned to be a leader in developing more renewable energy thanks to the Commonwealth's committed leadership and Dong's unrivaled expertise in building offshore wind farms," Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"While we have faced many technological challenges and even more doubters as we advanced this project, we have been steadfast in our commitment to our customers and the communities we serve."
Virginia is a member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition made up of states including California, Hawaii, New York and Oregon, all committed to upholding the Paris Accord and taking action on climate change.
Commenting on the news regarding Dominion Energy Virginia and Dong Energy, Governor Terry McAuliffe said it marked "the first step in what I expect to be the deployment of hundreds of wind turbines off Virginia's coast that will further diversify our energy production portfolio, create thousands of jobs, and reduce carbon emissions in the Commonwealth."
"Today's announcement advances our efforts to build a new Virginia economy that is cleaner, stronger, and more diverse," he added.
At the end of 2016, America's first offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Rhode Island, commenced commercial operations.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, offshore wind resources "are abundant, stronger, and blow more consistently than land-based wind resources."
