Wind turbine installation on Dominion Energy’s 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) has started with the first of the project’s 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines currently being erected.
Virginia-based broadcaster WAVY reported on 21 January that a wind turbine tower was being installed at the CVOW site, next to the two existing wind turbines of the CVOW demo project.
The work is being carried out by the wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) Charybdis , the first Jones Act-compliant WTIV, commissioned by Dominion Energy and built at Seatrium’s AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas.
Offshore construction on the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project started in 2024, with offshore construction at an advanced stage before the project was issued a stop-work order by the US government on 22 December.
Dominion Energy filed for a temporary restraining order and an injunction in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on 23 December, and was granted a preliminary injunction on 16 January, which allowed the construction to continue.
After receiving the stop-work order, Dominion said the wind farm was expected to achieve first power production in the first quarter of this year and to be fully commissioned by the end of 2026.
With 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines and an installed capacity of 2.6 GW, once operational, CVOW will become the biggest US offshore wind farm and one of the biggest in the world today.