Judge\u2019s ruling allows Dominion Energy to resume construction of CVOW
\n \t
\n
<\/BR>
\n
\n \t
\n
<\/BR><\/p>\n
The Trump Administration\u2019s latest efforts to cripple the U.S. offshore wind industry <\/a>have met their third legal set back in the course of a week. Today the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Dominion Energy\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project while Dominion Energy\u2019s lawsuit challenging the agency\u2019s action proceeds.<\/p>\n That came after similar preliminary injunctions had been granted \u00d8rsted <\/a>and Equinor <\/a>earlier this week<\/p>\n Reuters reports t<\/a>hat Judge Jamar Walker said that the Department of the Interior\u2019s stop-work order was too broad to address Dominion\u2019s specific project and noted that the risks cited by the government pertained to wind farm operations and not construction.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team will now focus on safely restarting work to ensure CVOW begins delivery of critical energy in just weeks,\u201d said Dominion Energy. \u201cWhile our legal challenge proceeds, we will continue seeking a durable resolution of this matter through cooperation with the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n When completed, CVOW will be the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S. in terms of planned capacity. It will consist of 176 offshore wind energy turbines generating a total of 2.6-gigawatts \u2014 enough energy to power up to 660,000 homes. CVOW is a critical part of Dominion Energy\u2019s all-of-the-above diverse energy supply strategy to meet its region\u2019s growing demand.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s ruling in Virginia marks the third time in a row that a court has allowed one of the five offshore wind projects suspended in December to resume construction,\u201d said Hillary Bright, executive director of Turn Forward, an independent, nonprofit organization advocating for offshore wind. \u201cThis is good news for stressed power grids on the East Coast \u2014 and also for the ratepayers who will ultimately benefit once these projects are completed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEach project suspended by the U.S. government could provide enough power for hundreds of thousands of American homes. At a time of rapidly growing electricity demand, the potential impact on our power supplies is enormous. Yet the reverse is also true \u2014 if these projects are not allowed to advance, stressed grids along the populous East coast are more likely to experience reliability issues and see ratepayer bills soar.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Administration wants power-hungry AI to help fuel economic growth and also seeks to solve household affordability issues. Offshore wind aligns with both those goals, bringing utility-scale power to busy coastal regions and shoring up electricity grids gradually growing overtaxed by demand.<\/p>\n \u201cWith two more projects still stalled over undefined claims regarding national security \u2014 and those allowed to proceed still in litigation \u2014 we hope the Administration soon comes to understand the immense benefits that these nearly complete power sources can bring to our nation\u2019s energy and national security.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Judge\u2019s ruling allows Dominion Energy to resume construction of CVOW<\/a> appeared first on Marine Log<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n