Offshore wind boost for US

Ørsted may use the site at the Port of Virginia’s Portsmouth Marine Terminal for its work on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project with Dominion Energy, as well as for staging materials and equipment for Ørsted projects up and down the US East Coast. If fully executed, the lease will run through at least 2026, during which time Ørsted plans to install nearly 3,000MW of wind energy projects in the US.

“This is a big step towards making Virginia a leader in wind energy and offshore wind manufacturing,” said Governor Ralph Northam, who announced the agreement, ratified by the Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners.

John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said: “By welcoming Ørsted and allowing it to leverage the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, we could jumpstart an almost entirely new industry. The result is job creation, economic investment, diversification of the Virginia economy, and clean, renewable energy.”

Generating key investments

The agreement between the port and Ørsted is for an initial lease of 1.7 acres at the multi-use terminal, with options to expand to an additional 40 acres.

If fully executed, the agreement could be worth nearly US$13m in lease payments and result in site upgrades worth more than US$20m for cranes and improvements to a section of the terminal’s berth to ensure heavy load capacity. Those investments would prepare the site for activities such as pre-assembly, staging, and loading of wind turbines for other Ørsted projects.

In October 2019, ports in New York state were granted the opportunity to benefit from up to US$200m to upgrade port infrastructure to support the expanding offshore wind industry.