By STACY PARKER
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT |
JAN 05, 2022 AT 10:53 AM
VIRGINIA BEACH — After Monday’s heavy winds finally died down, an odd-looking ship hovering above the water’s surface off Croatan Beach came into view.
The Aries Ram VII — a lift ship — works like this: The vessel acts as an elevated platform while its three legs rest on the seafloor.
Inside the ship, environmental consultants are taking soil samples for Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project. The information will be used in the placement of an undersea cable that will eventually come from wind turbines at sea, according to Dominion spokeswoman Paula Miller.
The vessel arrived in December and is expected to be on site until the end of January. It’s currently south of the entrance to Rudee Inlet, about 1,000 feet offshore.
Dominion Energy has two turbines 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast that are being used for research. The company plans to build another 180 for a commercial wind farm by 2026.
The undersea portion of the wind project will come ashore at State Military Reservation (formerly known as Camp Pendleton). The transmission lines will run to a switching station north of Harpers Road and onto the Fentress substation in Chesapeake.
Dominion Energy has submitted its route proposals for the transmission lines to the State Corporation Commission, which will decide which one will be built.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected]