BOEM Considers Second Wind Energy Lease Offshore Virginia

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it has taken another important step toward issuing a wind energy research lease to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), after finding there is no competitive interest in the area where the state agency proposes to conduct activities.

This would be the second wind energy research lease offshore Virginia that BOEM is considering.

DMME proposes to design, develop, and demonstrate a grid-connected, 12-megawatt (MW) offshore wind test facility on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the coast of Virginia. The data obtained under this lease will be made publicly available and inform the future production of renewable energy within Virginia’s Wind Energy Area (WEA).

“The type of data that would be collected under this research lease is especially important to understanding the wind potential, weather and other conditions relevant to standing up wind power generation offshore Virginia,” said BOEM Director Tommy P. Beaudreau.

On Dec. 12, 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced funding awards for seven proposed “Offshore Wind Demonstration Projects” off the nation’s coasts. One of the awards was given to Dominion Resources, Inc., which partnered with DMME and others to establish the Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project. This project proposes to build the wind test facility on the OCS, adjacent to the BOEM-designated WEA offshore Virginia. BOEM continues to work collaboratively with DOE in reviewing these projects.

Before the Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project can install any facilities on the OCS, it must obtain BOEM approval. Therefore, DMME submitted an unsolicited nomination to BOEM on Feb. 13, 2013, for a proposal to install and operate two 6-megawatt turbines, associated cabling to shore, and ancillary metocean facilities (e.g., meteorological buoys).

As an initial step in the leasing process, BOEM published a “Public Notice of an Unsolicited Request for an OCS Research Lease, Request for Competitive Interest, and Request for Public Comment” in the Federal Register on July 30, 2013, to obtain public input on this research proposal, its potential environmental consequences, and the use of the area in which the proposed project would be located. BOEM also asked whether there were other entities interested in obtaining a renewable energy lease of the same scale within the same area identified by DMME that would support potential wind energy development.

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Press release, December 9, 2013; Image: boem