Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind

CVOW Map
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW-C) Wind Lease Map

What’s New?

On Oct. 31, 2023, the Department of the Interior announced the approval of the construction and operation of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW-C) project offshore Virginia. Located approximately 23.5 nautical miles east of Virginia Beach, Virginia, the approved version of the project will have an estimated capacity of about 2,600 megawatts of clean energy, capable of powering over 900,000 homes.    

The Record of Decision (ROD) documents the decision to approve the construction of 176 wind turbines and three offshore substations within the lease area. 

Please see the Construction and Operations Plan and Environmental Review tabs for more information.  

Next Steps  

The ROD represents the final step in the National Environmental Policy Act review process for the CVOW-C Construction and Operations Plan (COP). The lessee must still receive BOEM's final COP approval as required by its Renewable Energy Regulation, and other required Federal and state authorizations. The COP approval represents the last major action by BOEM, and is scheduled for January 29, 2024. As part of BOEM and BSEE’s regulations, the lessee cannot begin any construction on their lease (easement included) until after review of the Facility Design Report and Fabrication and Installation Report (FDR/FIR). 

Background  

On September 4, 2013, BOEM held a competitive lease sale offshore Virginia. Dominion Energy was identified as the winner of Lease Area (OCS-A 0483). The lease area is 112,799 acres, located 23.5 nautical miles offshore Virginia in federal waters. Please see the Planning Area page for more information.   

Dominion Energy is in the COP phase within BOEM’s authorization process. This project is covered under FAST-41 and permitting progress can be found on the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FIPSC) dashboard.  

For more information on this lease area, including Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meetings and lease history please visit the Planning Area page. For more information on public meetings, please visit the Environmental Review tab. For up-to-date leasing information, including the original lease and any lease amendments that may have occurred since initial lease execution, visit the Lease and Grants page.  

Related Announcements  

  Wind Energy Area Offshore Virginia 
Wind Energy Area Offshore Virginia

Overview

A commercial lease with Virginia Electric and Power Company (dba Dominion Virginia Power) for the Virginia Wind Energy Area went into effect on November 1, 2013. The commercial lease sale (i.e., auction) for this lease was held September 4, 2013, representing the second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Additional information about this lease is provided below.

Call for Information and Nominations

The OCS Lands Act requires BOEM to award leases competitively, unless BOEM determines there is no competitive interest.  On Feb. 3, 2012, BOEM published a "Call for Information and Nominations" ("Call") in the Federal Register to initiate the first step in the renewable energy leasing process offshore Virginia. The purpose of the Call was to help BOEM determine whether competitive interest exists in the Call Area. The Call also requested information from the public on issues relevant to BOEM's review of nominations for potential leasing in the area.  Click on the links below to view maps of the Virginia Call Area:

Environmental Review

AXYS WindSentinel™

On Feb. 3, 2012, BOEM also published in the Federal Register a Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for commercial wind lease issuance and site assessment activities on the Atlantic OCS offshore New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.  Consultations ran concurrently with preparation of the EA and included consultations under the Endangered Species Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act.

The comment period for the Virginia Call closed on March 19, 2012. In response, BOEM received eight public comment submissions and eight nominations of interest by companies wishing to obtain a commercial lease for a wind energy project.

Proposed Sale Notice

The Virginia Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) was published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2012 under Docket ID: BOEM-2012-0033. The PSN provided the proposed lease terms and conditions, as well as details regarding how the lease sale could conducted.  A 60-day comment period accompanied the notice and provided an opportunity for potential bidders to submit input to BOEM before the lease package and auction procedures were finalized. In response, BOEM received two additional qualifications packages from companies wishing to participate in the auction. Several public comments submissions were also received by BOEM in response to this notice, which are available by clicking here. BOEM also held a public seminar during this comment period to introduce potential bidders and the public to the auction format and procedures, as well as answer any questions. Information related to the PSN is provided below:

Final Sale Notice

On July 23, 2013, BOEM announced in a Final Sale Notice that a commercial lease sale (i.e., auction) will be held Sept. 4, 2013, for the Wind Energy Area (WEA) offshore Virginia. The auction represents the second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

The WEA covers approximately 112,799 acres and its western edge is located about 23.5 nautical miles from the Virginia Beach coastline. It will be auctioned as a single lease and is expected to support more than 2,000 megawatts of wind generation – enough electricity to power 700,000 homes. Materials related to the Final Sale Notice are below:

The area available for auction is identical to the one announced in the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) published in the Federal Register on Dec. 3, 2012 for a 60-day public comment period. BOEM carefully considered public comments received during this time prior to developing the Final Sale Notice, as discussed in the Response to Comments above.

Commercial Lease

The commercial lease sale for Virginia was held on September 4, 2013. At the conclusion of the sale, BOEM announced that Virginia Electric and Power Company (dba Dominion Virginia Power) was the provisional winner. The sale received $1.6 million as the high bid. In addition to Dominion Virginia Power, the other participant in the sale was Apex Virginia Offshore Wind, LLC.  A summary of bidding results is provided here.

On Nov. 1, 2013, the commercial wind energy lease with Dominion Virginia Power went into effect. The executed lease and maps of the lease area are provided below.

On October 12, 2017, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for Lease OCS-A 0483 (Dominion Energy). The plan details the methods and procedures Dominion will use to collect and analyze meteorological data and information on the conditions of the marine environment within the Commercial Lease. The SAP approval allows for the installation of a WindSentinel™, a floating light detection and ranging (LiDAR) buoy. For additional information, please find the approved SAP below: 

Dominion Energy submitted its COP on December 17, 2020. BOEM will review the COP and approve, disapprove, or approve with modifications the proposed activities. Updated COP versions were submitted on June 17, 2021, October 30, 2021, December 3, 2021, May 6, 2022, February 28, 2023, July 31, 2023 and September 8, 2023.  

 

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Scoping 

On July 2, 2021, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Dominion Energy for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial (CVOW-C) Project. The following documents are available for viewing:

The Notice of Intent initiated a 30-day public comment period that ended on August 2, 2021. 
Virtual public meetings:

More information can be found in the Virtual Meeting Room.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) 

On Dec. 12, 2022, BOEM published a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed CVOW-C Project, offshore Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The Notice of Availability and draft EIS can be accessed using the links below.  

Virtual public meetings:

More information can be found in the Virtual Meeting Room.

Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) 

On September 29, 2023, BOEM is publishing a Notice of Availability for the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the CVOW-C Project. The following documents are available for your viewing: