Dominion Virginia Power “Dominion” plans to solicit its second round of bids for a 12-megawatt offshore wind farm off the coast of Virginia after rejecting an earlier proposal that was too costly.  As proposed, the wind facility will consist of two 6-megawatt wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 27 miles off the cost of Virginia Beach.

The initial bid for Dominion’s proposed facility solicited only one bid, which came in at nearly twice Dominion’s estimated $230 million price.  Dominion rejected the bid and explained that it would have had a difficult time justifying the price to state regulators, who would have had to approve a special rider on customers’ power bills.

Since the initial round of bidding, Dominion has decided to split the project into four major components:

  1. a contract for transporting and installing the turbines and their foundations;
  2. a contract for the design, manufacturing, transportation and installation of cables underneath the seafloor;
  3. a contract for the fabrication of the foundations and
  4. a contract for the building of an onshore “interconnection station.”

Bidders will bid on each of the four components separately.  Dominion has already chosen the maker of the turbines.

Final bids are due for the first two components in mid-January, and currently ten companies have submitted bids to Dominion.  The final two components will be open for bidding in early 2016.

The facility is expected to become operational in 2018. If you have questions or issues concerning renewable energy, wind power generation, utility regulation or the retail energy market in Virginia, call any of our Virginia energy lawyers. We’d be glad to help.

Author

Brian Greene
hasibul.kibria@nochallenge.net
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