Court rejects request to stop construction of Dominion offshore wind farm

A U.S. federal judge has denied a request to halt construction of Dominion Energy’s Virginia coastal offshore wind project in Virginia Beach.

The groups, including the Heartland Institute and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, filed a lawsuit in federal court in March against several U.S. agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The groups claimed the government “illegally approved Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project by ignoring egregious and obvious procedural errors that expose the endangered North Atlantic right whale to serious additional harm.” “.

Dominion Energy immediately asserted that the issues raised in the suit were without merit. Regardless of this decision, the trial will still take place during the fall, but construction of the CVOW project will continue as planned while the trial is underway.

According to the ruling by United States District Court Judge for the District of Columbia Loren AliKhan, the plaintiffs failed to take into account the numerous measures already in place to minimize potential harm to the Pacific’s right whales. North Atlantic during construction. of the wind farm and that the request did not explain why these measures would not be sufficient.

The CVOW project is expected to include 176 wind turbines approximately 45 km from the coast. Dominion Energy says the 2.6GW offshore wind project would produce enough energy to power up to 660,000 homes. When completed, expected in 2026, it is expected to become the largest commercial offshore wind farm in the United States.

Dominion received the green light to begin construction on the project earlier this month and the first monopile was put in place by DEME Orion ship last week – just days before the judge’s decision.