New Wind Projects For Virginia Beach
Two Virginia companies have filed lease proposals with Federal regulators for offshore wind projects at Virginia Beach. The proposed farms would be capable of supplying enough clean energy to provide electricity to thousands of homes.
One proposal, filed by Apex Wind Energy Inc. of Charlottesville is for the lease of 116,000 acres that will be used to construct an unspecified number of turbines. These turbines will have the potential of generating as much as 1,500 megawatts of power.
The second proposal filed by Seawind Renewable Energy Corp. of Richmond requests approval for the construction of 240 offshore turbines. These turbines will have the capacity to generate enough clean energy to supply the needs of over 250,000 homes.
The areas specified in both proposals would have the projects out of sight from the coastal area. But, the projects would be within the shipping lanes and heavy traffic from the world’s largest naval base, Naval Station Norfolk. The projects would also be located inside the 50 mile area off the Virginia coast that is under consideration for both oil and gas drilling.