The first wind turbine is now in place at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) site in the US.
The 2.6 GW offshore wind farm, owned by Dominion Energy, will comprise 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines and will be able to generate enough electricity to power over 900,000 homes once fully operational, according to the developer.
The turbines are being installed by the installation vessel Charybdis , the first Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), commissioned by Dominion Energy and built at Seatrium’s AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas.
Charybdis arrived at the CVOW site offshore Virginia Beach with the first set of turbine components a few days ago, after Dominion Energy was granted a preliminary injunction allowing the construction to resume while the company’s lawsuit challenging the US government’s stop-work order proceeds.
Offshore construction on the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project started in 2024.
With the first wind turbine now up, CVOW is expected to achieve first power production in the first quarter of this year and to be fully commissioned in early 2027, Dominion said on 30 January.
Once in full operation, CVOW will become the biggest US offshore wind farm and, with an installed capacity of 2.6 GW, one of the biggest in the world today.