The offshore wind energy project will be located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach and produce enough energy to power 650,000 homes.

The 2,600 (megawatt) MW project is expected to be completed in 2026 and will help Virginia State to create jobs, and achieve energy sustainability goals.

“Virginia state agencies have been tasked to develop a plan to produce 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Offshore wind is a fast-growing and important contributor to meet this goal,” says Steve Dayney, Head of Offshore North America at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.

By selecting a turbine supplier for the project, Dominion Energy is now able to submit the project’s Construction and Operations Plan to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in late 2020.

Siemens Gamesa and Dominion Energy will work together to develop mechanisms that will help reduce the cost of the project.

Mark D. Mitchell, Dominion Energy‘s Vice President of generation construction, said: “We look forward to continuing our relationship as we bring clean, renewable energy to our customers and support Governor Ralph Northam‘s commitment to have Virginia lead the way in offshore wind.”

Dominion Energy has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions from its electric fleet by 55% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

The total worldwide offshore wind power capacity was 18.8 gigawatt (GW) at the end of 2017. All the largest offshore wind farms are currently in northern Europe, especially in the UK and Germany, which together account for over two-thirds of total offshore wind power installed worldwide. In contrast to the US 2,600 MW wind power project to be completed in 2026, the UK’s 659 MW Walney Wind Farm is considered the largest offshore wind farm in the world. The UK’s Hornsea Wind Farm is set to become the world’s largest when completed this year at 1,200 MW (1.2 GW), almost double that of the Walney Wind Farm.