Offshore

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind receives first monopile foundations shipment

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind receives first monopile foundations shipment
Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot turbines. (Courtesy: Dominion Energy)

Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project took one more step toward construction when the first eight monopile foundations were offloaded at Portsmouth Marine Terminal, where they will be staged until the installation of the 2.6-GW project begins in the spring of 2024.

The foundations, which are a single vertical, steel cylinder, are being manufactured by EEW SPC and will be installed into the sea floor to support the wind turbine generators.

The project continues to advance through the federal permitting process, receiving the Final Environmental Impact Statement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) last month. BOEM is expected to issue its Record of Decision on the project in the coming days.

Dominion Energy recently announced that it was considering selling an equity stake in the CVOW wind project as part of an effort to reduce risk.

As part of a review of its regulated businesses, Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue said adding a noncontrolling equity financing partner to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project would, in part, help minimize the company’s external equity financing needs and support long-term stability.

Dominion Energy, by its account, appears to have weathered the macroeconomic headwinds that have plagued some of the first offshore wind projects in the U.S. The offshore wind industry is facing cost challenges across the board, as utilities and developers alike pay the price to pull out of agreements.

Rhode Island Energy recently pulled out of its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the Revolution Wind 2 offshore project — citing higher interest rates, increased expenses and questionable federal tax credits — and concluding that the project had become uneconomical.

In July, Avangrid agreed to pay $48 million to pull out of a PPA with Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil for another offshore wind project, the 1,223 MW Commonwealth Wind located 20 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Rhode Island Energy, meanwhile, terminated its PPA with Ørsted and Eversource for the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind 2.

However, the U.S. offshore wind industry is making some headway despite the setbacks.

As Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind sit on the precipice of delivering their first power to the grid, the pipeline of projects approved for construction has tripled in size, with more projects just weeks away from achieving final approval themselves. These findings are detailed in the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s U.S. Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report, which documents key investments announced over the past three months, growth in state demand for offshore wind and notable policy advancements that drove the U.S. market forward between July and September 2023.