Hope springs eternal
After tough pandemic season, Williamsburg seeks 2021 renewal
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Williamsburg’s tourism-steeped economy was on track for a banner year when COVID-19 knocked it off course. Businesses, including tourist attractions Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Colonial Williamsburg shut down, William & Mary sent students home, and hotel and motel occupancy rates plummeted. As of late October, with capacity restrictions gradually lifted, Williamsburg was striving to get
Change in the air
Dominion debuts offshore wind farm
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After almost a decade of planning, Dominion Energy Inc. will begin harnessing offshore wind power this fall as two massive test turbines go into operation off the coast of Virginia Beach. Standing about 600 feet tall, the 12-megawatt turbines are the cornerstone of Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project. The company, the first
The big dig
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion incorporates new tunnel boring technology
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With construction beginning this fall to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT), relief is on the way for travelers weary of sitting in traffic jams along one of south-eastern Virginia’s most congested corridors. The $3.8 billion expansion is the largest project in the history of the Virginia Department of Transportation and one of the largest
Sailing for the horizon
Despite pandemic disruptions, the Port of Virginia looks to the future
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Tariff wars and the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a one-two punch to the Port of Virginia, but officials are focusing on the positive as expansions are completed at the port’s two largest terminals, and a dredging project to make Virginia the East Coast’s deepest port is running ahead of schedule. The third-largest East Coast port behind
Pipeline to progress?
Natural gas is key component of Dominion’s carbon-free plan
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Although Dominion Energy Inc. has pulled the plug on its $8 billion-plus Atlantic Coast Pipeline, natural gas remains a linchpin in the Richmond-based utility’s plan to shift from coal to renewable energy sources like wind and solar for electricity generation. Dominion announced over the Fourth of July weekend that it was abandoning the pipeline and
Offshore windfall
Hampton Roads will be East Coast center for wind energy
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Two massive wind turbines are scheduled to begin spinning off the coast of Virginia Beach by the end of 2020, providing electricity to 3,000 homes and paving the way for Dominion Energy Inc. to build the nation’s largest offshore wind farm. And even amid the coronavirus outbreak, plans are still proceeding on course, says
Positive energy
How Virginia’s electric utilities plan to become carbon neutral by 2050
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By 2026, as many as 220 massive wind turbines — each taller than the Washington Monument — may be churning away less than 30 miles off the Virginia Beach coast, powering up to 650,000 homes with renewable energy. The $7.8 billion proposed offshore wind farm would be the nation’s largest such project, but it’s just
Pig-powered
Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods join forces to convert hog manure into energy
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Along with emitting a potent odor, manure produced by the nearly 75 million hogs in the U.S. generates methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. However, Virginia’s largest electric utility and the world’s largest pork producer have teamed up to combat the latter problem by transforming these emissions
Winds of change
Virginia Beach’s $8 billion offshore wind farm moves forward
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In September, Dominion Energy Inc. unveiled an ambitious, $8 billion project to erect the nation’s largest offshore wind farm off the Virginia Beach coast. If all goes to plan, it will power 650,000 Virginia homes by 2026. This year, Dominion expects to bring its offshore wind pilot project online and start ocean survey work on
Port of call
Deep-water harbor drives local economy
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Hampton Roads’ deep-water port continued to be a dominant factor in attracting companies to the region in 2019, especially cold storage and warehousing and logistics firms. “As we try to bring industry into this area, the port is a significant driver of our economic development,” says Doug Smith, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads