The Interior Department today said it has begun an environmental assessment of a proposed 12-megawatt offshore wind test facility off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is evaluating Dominion Resources Inc.'s plan to build two 6 MW turbines about 25 miles from shore. The project will inform Dominion's development of an adjacent federal offshore wind lease that it purchased last September for $1.6 million in the nation's second-ever competitive auction (E&ENews PM, Sept. 4, 2013). It aims to validate emerging offshore wind technologies, reduce costs and remove market barriers inhibiting wind farms.
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