The first of three offshore substations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project has arrived at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in the US.
In 2021, a consortium including Semco Maritime and CS Wind Offshore (formerly Bladt Industries) secured a contract to supply three 880 MW substations for the offshore wind project developed by Dominion Energy.
Semco Maritime is responsible for the installation of electrical equipment, energy systems, and inter-array cables, while CS Wind Offshore will design, procure, and manufacture the steel structures and jacket foundations for the substations.
The first jacket foundation, weighing approximately 2,445 tonnes, departed from the Danish Esbjerg Port in December 2024.
According to the Port of Virginia, the substation is the first of its kind to ever arrive at a US East Coast port and, at more than 4,000 tonnes, is the heaviest piece of equipment ever handled at the port.
As part of the first installation campaign, which was completed in November 2024, the four pin piles for one offshore substation jacket have already been installed at the site, located 43 kilometres off the coast of Virginia Beach.
The company in charge of the transportation and installation of foundations and substations is DEME Offshore. The company’s CVOW Balance of Plant contract includes the transport and installation of 176 monopile transition piece foundations, three offshore substations, scour protection and the supply and installation of export and inter-array submarine cable systems. The company will oversee the complete offshore installation works for the foundations, substations, and infield cables, as well as part of the export cables.
The 2.6 GW CVOW, the largest offshore wind project under construction in the US and one of the largest such projects in the world, will comprise 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines that will generate enough renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes, according to Dominion Energy.
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