Gone with the wind

Yesterday, the Interior Department approved a plan to build the largest offshore wind farm in US history.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, to be built by Dominion Energy, aims to install up to 176 giant wind turbines about 23.5 nautical miles off the coast of Virginia. If completed, the 2.6-gigawatt wind farm would produce enough electricity to power more than 900,000 homes, according to the NY Times.

• To date, the Biden administration has approved five commercial-scale offshore wind projects as part of its goal to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power in the US by 2030.

✋ But… Wind farms are running into some (wait for it) headwinds. The Virginia plan approval comes as renewable power developers are facing a series of challenges that have slowed – and in some cases halted – smaller offshore wind projects, from soaring costs, to rising interest rates, to supply chain delays, to local opposition (related to higher proposed energy bills for consumers as well as environmental concerns). Analysts at BloombergNEF now expect 16.4 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity will be completed by 2030, roughly half the Biden administration’s goal.