Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy was recently named as the preferred turbine supplier for the massive 2,640-MW Dominion Energy Virginia Offshore Wind project in the U.S. This is the largest offshore wind power project in the rapidly increasing U.S. market to date. A long-term service and maintenance agreement is included for the site off the coast of Virginia. The agreement furthermore foresees using turbines from Siemens Gamesa’s Direct Drive offshore wind turbine platform.
The final number of units and turbine model remain to be determined. All installations are expected to complete by 2026. The agreement is subject to certain conditions including Dominion Energy’s final investment decision, governmental permitting, and other required approvals.
“Signing this preferred supplier agreement with Dominion Energy attests to the enormously exciting growth taking place in the U.S. offshore wind industry and across the globe,” said Markus Tacke, Siemens Gamesa CEO. “We’re thrilled to have been chosen to support them in their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to once again do our part in combatting climate change on a global level.”
The agreement comes on the heels of Siemens Gamesa’s recent commitment to the “Business Ambition for 1.5ºC – Our Only Future” pledge, contributing toward the fight for a zero-emissions future.
“Internationally, every Siemens Gamesa Direct Drive offshore wind turbine we install increases the impact made by the renewable energy industry in avoiding CO2 emissions from power generation,” said Andreas Nauen, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit. “Locally, we help our customers provide cost-efficient clean energy as well as additional economic benefits.”
Once online, the project is expected to provide enough clean energy to power 650,000 homes at rated wind speed, avoiding 3.7 million tons per year of carbon emissions compared to fossil fuel-based power generation.
This is another milestone agreement for the United States as it aims to add 25 GW of renewable energy by 2030, enough to provide clean, renewable energy to approximately 12 million average homes, or 10 percent of total U.S. households.
“We’re confident that offshore wind power is already one of the fastest-growing, most important contributors on which Virginia state agencies can draw to reach their ambitious renewable energy goals,” said Steve Dayney, head of Offshore North America at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. “Receiving 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 is fully feasible, and we are eager to lead the way for the citizens of the Commonwealth. We have always believed that the Coastal Virginia demonstration project currently underway with Dominion Energy is a gateway to something bigger, and now Virginia is poised to benefit from the wide-ranging economic benefits the Dominion Energy Virginia Offshore Wind project will bring.”
Dominion Energy Virginia Offshore Wind expands on knowledge gained though the current two-turbine, 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.
It is the first offshore wind project to be built in U.S. federal waters and will use Siemens Gamesa’s 6-MW SWT-6.0-154 wind turbines. CVOW is set to be online in 2020 within a research lease area adjacent to site of the 2,640-MW project will be located.
The agreement for Dominion Energy Virginia Offshore Wind also provides for certain early works to support project development, including turbine layouts that will be used in the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submittal to the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late 2020.
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