Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Dominion’s Wind Project Wins Federal Approval

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by

Steve Haner
in , ,

Norfolk Virginian-Pilot photo of the first eight monopiles for Dominion’s offshore wind project, celebrated at a ceremony last Thursday upon their delivery.

The Biden Administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued final approval for the construction of Dominion Energy Virginia’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Here is the release. A few more steps remain and should be completed by late January, according to BOEM.

The announcement, fully expected since all previous U.S. projects have been similarly approved, followed by a few days the arrival of the first set of gigantic monopiles, the first eight of the 176 structures Dominion will build about 27 miles or more off Virginia Beach.

The only coverage of their arrival was provided by The Virginian-Pilot. Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) attended and has praised the project all along. The paper provided only an indirect quote from his remarks:

The project is also at the heart of Virginia’s all-of-the-above approach to energy production, which aims to make energy cheap and plentiful by employing fossil fuels, nuclear and growing green energy, said Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who attended the event.

No communication on the event has been issued from the Governor’s Office, which normally chronicles all his public events and comments on economically important issues. The Pilot story, worth reading if you can get past the firewall, quotes Dominion CEO Robert Blue extensively on how this project – unlike most others on the East Coast – is still proceeding on time and on budget.

The only photographs of the monopiles released so far are those printed by the Pilot and taken by its reporter. (Do staff photo departments still exist?) Again, Dominion has put out none yet that I can find. The tubes are surprisingly similar in size to the hull structures of the Virginia Class nuclear submarines built across Hampton Roads at Newport News Shipbuilding.

The figure of $9.8 billion is usually mentioned as the capital cost for the European-built turbines and all the added equipment to bring the electricity ashore and connect to the grid. But when the Virginia State Corporation Commission approved the financial investment more than a year ago, the possibility of costs as high as almost $14 billion was recognized in the final order.

Official publication of this “record of decision” is the point at which any opponents seeking to challenge BOEM’s decision or related permits have a chance to file a lawsuit. Suits are pending in other states, but the first to reach a decision went against the opponents.

— Steve Haner

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29 responses to “Dominion’s Wind Project Wins Federal Approval”

  1. walter smith Avatar
    walter smith

    I think Gov Youngkin’s PE background is a detriment here. He sees lots of money to be made. I see lots of costs being stuck on customers, with no upside, and all the downside. And it will be downside.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Physical Education? He only scored one point while at Duke… which, come to think of it, is one more than as Governor.

      1. walter smith Avatar
        walter smith

        Little people making little comments, running down others and feeling superior. How many points did you score at Duke? And I thought he went to Baylor…

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Well, you did elect him so in a sense you are responsible for his little comments.

  2. James Wyatt Whitehead Avatar
    James Wyatt Whitehead

    Well so much for Uncle Sam saving the whales!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdPOAhBp2Ag

    1. Eric the half a troll Avatar
      Eric the half a troll

      First a VW and now the Dead…. your true self is starting to come through, James… I knew I liked you for a reason!!

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        James has “evolved” I think….

  3. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    I saw it on TV CNBC 18-Oct, and belatedly (after everyone had moved onto new BR articles) tacked a comment on the end of your last post. Will add my comment here again:

    CNBC’s Last Call with Brian Sullivan show just did a short segment saying Dominion was embarking on the largest US offshore wind project. Parts are now on the way from Germany, for installation in the ocean starting May 1 2024 (based on whale migration patterns). Dominion COO says by taking the lead, we can probably expect the foreign companies to move here to make the parts here. Dominion claims 90% cost was already contracted (minimal inflation impact).

    CNBC/Sullivan failed to make the point that this is the only utility-run (no bid) project so Dominion project is different than the low cost bid (eg ORSTED) projects that are having troubles moving forward.

    1. Dr. Havel nos Spine' Avatar
      Dr. Havel nos Spine’

      Yes, they will have to make the parts in the United States. They German economy, soon to be incapable of exporting anything, has been wrecked by doing exactly this. Very ironic.

      1. Stephen Haner Avatar
        Stephen Haner

        No. China will be making more and more components. Cheap electricity from coal for its manufacturing. Gotta love it….

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          but they also USE it:

          ” China leads the world on wind power. In 2021, it installed more offshore wind generation capacity than every other country in the world over the last five years. China alone accounted for 49 per cent of the 64.3GW of total global offshore wind capacity in 2022 – more than Europe’s 47 per cent.”

          https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/09/07/world-record-wind-turbine-generates-enough-energy-in-a-day-to-power-170000-homes#:~:text=China%20leads%20the%20world%20on,than%20Europe's%2047%20per%20cent.

          Also, think about it this way.

          If one-time , coal is used to produce electricity to build a wind turbine – and then all the years after that – the electricity comes from the turbine.

          You could make that same argument about all wind/solar.

          One time use of coal to build, then 20-30yrs of electricity NOT coming from coal!

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Dang! I guess that’s it for the whales, eh?

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      We’ll find out the hard way. Again, my focus was on the sheer immensity of the east coast plans, right in their migration path, and many of those projects are now in jeopardy. 🙂

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        I think one of the things we’re finding out about is vessel strikes…. they even have that
        issues addressed in the ROD but just for the wind turbine construction and maintenance. It’s
        actually a much bigger issue with vessel strikes in general because of the sheer number of them.

        ” Collisions with vessels are the one of the most frequent causes of premature death for several highly endangered marine mammals, including the North Atlantic right whale, blue whale and Florida manatee. Each of these species is already so depleted that the loss of only a few individuals can mean the difference between moving toward recovery or being pushed further toward extinction.The numbers are staggering: Scientists estimate 80 whales die each year off the U.S. West Coast; and in the Atlantic, roughly a third of all right whale deaths are caused by vessel strikes.”

        https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/boat_strikes/index.html#:~:text=HARM%20TO%20WHALES&text=The%20numbers%20are%20staggering%3A%20Scientists,are%20caused%20by%20vessel%20strikes.

        1. Stephen Haner Avatar
          Stephen Haner

          Yes, and the shipping industry has resisted some of the speed limits and other measures to cut down on that. Obviously going that slow has a cost implication. I’m no biologist, but my fear is all those obstructions, all that noise and vibration, would prevent the migrations to the breeding grounds. It is pretty daunting if they actually do get to 30-40 GW.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            who knows for sure? I was reading that despite improvement in the James River, there are now
            zero shad.. and no one knows why.

            for the vessel strikes, I keep thinking – like with the turbines – some noise coming from the vessel
            would cause the whales to run away…. before the ship got there.

            These big ships… even if they slow down… so much mass that when they hit a whale, it’s like
            a baseball bat on a mouse.

  5. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    This project has reached a point where the momentum will carry it through. It will be built, and we ratepayers are going to see the impact in our bills. Maybe only what they say, but maybe much much more. Litigation is possible but very unlikely to have any success, especially since you can expect the Governor and AG to side with Dominion and defend the project. Put a fork in it and open your wallets.

    The debate should focus on Phase II, the second mass of turbines. If Dominion claims it has those costs locked in, time for total disbelief. But the numbers on Phase II in all its public planning documents don’t seem to have changed as the industry has neared fiscal collapse. Okay…..

  6. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    Maybe the stealth is worry about possible election impact.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      I doubt the R’s will gain much ground in Jersey, but if this issue proves a winner for them, I’ll let you know….

      1. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
        energyNOW_Fan

        Wow that’s incredible about the South Jersey recent wind project cancellations. That was my backyard with Mr. Sweeney, union boss I fought in past over coal plants, who later became top elected official in NJ politics, pushed for the OS wind and built some support facilities already upriver with some opening ceremonies. Years ago believe he had similar opening ceremony for coal plant that did not happen. Sometimes the opening ceremonies are held in the hopes to make the project go ahead.

        I thought NJ had recently agreed to pay more to ORSTED, to make the projects work. NY refused to pay up.

        1. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
          energyNOW_Fan

          Apparently EEW did build a monopile assembly plant in South Jersey…NJ hoping somebody can use it, but seems like we are not.

  7. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    Walmart cut a deal they say (presumably to make sure Virginia residential customers pay the lion’s share of the higher costs).

    https://www.eenews.net/articles/biden-approves-nations-largest-offshore-wind-farm/?utm_medium=email

    1. how_it_works Avatar
      how_it_works

      In some places in Virginia, the biggest private sector employer is the Wal-Mart store.

      Gotta make sure they’re taken care of!

  8. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
    energyNOW_Fan

    Bottom line right now: most of the East Coast offshore wind projects are stopped as the low cost bids are not able to move forward. South Fork NY still alive is only 12 turbines. One NE joint project construction got going before the recent mass extinction of projects.

    Virginia is about last man standing as we are committing resident rate payers to pay whatever the cost turns out be, for a very large project. Nerves of steel, since who cares? Residents pay the cost of any failure.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      Yep. Should it be cancelled now, about $4B in stranded costs already. The private, third-party developers have no such guarantee. The VA Assembly really delivered for its donors.

      1. William O'Keefe Avatar
        William O’Keefe

        A basic premise in economics is that sunk cost are irrelevant. I’d rather rate payers be on the hook for $4B than $10+.
        The wind industry globally is cratering because of rising costs, blade problems, supply chain issues, and promises that can’t be delivered.
        Government’s ability to pick winners is abysmal and this is just another example.

      2. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
        energyNOW_Fan

        Also of course the new projects are all with mega-huge turbine blades with not much commercial record of success, in a hurricane zone no less. The NJ/NY request for add’l US Govt subsidies has some merit, but I hope we get any add’l too. I am not a total against offshore wind but we are risking too much with humongous blades and so many of them maybe cut the plan in half until we see more.

      3. energyNOW_Fan Avatar
        energyNOW_Fan

        Also of course the new projects are all with mega-huge turbine blades with not much commercial record of success, in a hurricane zone no less. The NJ/NY request for add’l US Govt subsidies has some merit, but I hope we get any add’l too. I am not a total against offshore wind but we are risking too much with humongous blades and so many of them maybe cut the plan in half until we see more.

  9. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    In terms of the government being involved and the economics , I found this to be interesting:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f2066b68675ebbce9598bfccc57fcac2eae628b1d4f7a0ec181f1f4cf8aa2b8e.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/165e4f191abe3165fc92c92369701e6dd5364b6ebe83d0b9d821e032382fa19a.png

    https://thebulletin.org/2023/08/senate-extends-nuclear-liability-limiting-law-without-public-scrutiny-heres-why-we-should-care/#:~:text=The%20Senate%2Dapproved%20bill%20included,builders%20cannot%20be%20held%20liable.

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