VIRGINIA – Energy industry officials have viewed the waters off Virginia for the past decade as a potential location for a large wind farm.

After years of announcements and studies, the move to an offshore wind farm in Virginia, offered by Richmond-based Dominion Energy, appears to be gaining momentum.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Thursday hosted US Department of Home Secretary Deb Haaland for a tour of the Port of Virginia in Norfolk and to discuss supply chain opportunities for the offshore wind industry .

State officials hope that the port area could become a major industrial and logistics hub for the wind industry.

During his visit with Northam and US Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Thursday, Haaland announced that the Home Office’s Office of Ocean Energy Management would begin an environmental review of the commercial wind project. Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia offshore planned approximately 23 miles offshore. the coast of Virginia Beach.

On Friday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is expected to publish a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Dominion Energy project in the Federal Register, which will open a 30-day public comment period extending through 2 August.

The publication of a notice of intent by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to conduct the environmental review marks the first major step in federal approval of the 2,600 megawatt offshore wind project.

“Virginia is banking on offshore wind. We are developing the infrastructure, workforce, supply chain and manufacturing capabilities necessary to harness the many advantages of this emerging industry,” Northam said Thursday. in a press release.

Thursday’s announcement follows a recent agreement between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the US Army Corps of Engineers that will give federal agencies additional scientific and technical resources to assess offshore wind projects. The initiative was developed in partnership with Old Dominion University and facilitated by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

Dominion Energy’s offshore wind power project involves the construction and operation of up to 205 turbines capable of generating up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity. During development and construction, the project is expected to create an average of 900 jobs through 2026, with a peak of around 1,500 jobs in 2024 and 2025.

The project proposal includes three offshore substations with a possible cable landing location in Virginia Beach. The energy produced would help Virginia meet its goal of obtaining 5,200 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2034.

Dominion Energy is already operating an offshore wind research project located near the proposed project location, consisting of two test turbines in federal waters off Virginia Beach, which will provide data to help inform the project at the ‘commercial scale.