50 Monopiles In at Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Site

August 13, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

The 50th monopile foundation has been installed at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project site off Virginia Beach in the US, according to Dominion Energy.

A photo of monopiles protruding through water surface at Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) site — Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW); Photo courtesy of Dominion Energy

The developer said on 12 August the 176-turbine project was on schedule to reach the goal of having 70-100 monopiles installed during the first installation season that runs through the end of October.

The monopile installation will continue through the autumn of 2024 and resume in May 2025 for the second installation season, with construction remaining on schedule to be complete in late 2026.

The monopiles, manufactured by EEW SPC, are being installed by DEME’s vessel Orion which started the work in May this year from Portsmouth Marine Terminal, the staging site for the CVOW foundations.

“Our on-time, on-budget Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project proves that regulated offshore wind works in the United States”, said Robert M. Blue, Dominion Energy’s chair, president and chief executive officer. “Offshore wind is critical to our all-of-the-above approach to provide our customers with affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy”.

The 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind will feature 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines and will become the biggest US offshore wind farm once in operation.

The project is currently wholly owned by Dominion Energy but is in the process of becoming a 50:50 partnership between Dominion Energy and the New York City-based investment firm Stonepeak.