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Dominion Energy News

22 Feb 2024

Dominion Partners with Stonepeak to Fund Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind

(Photo: Dominion Energy)

U.S.

01 Feb 2024

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Farm Gets Final Federal Blessing

© Fokke Baarssen / Adobe Stock

Dominion Energy, the developer of Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) farm, has secured the last two major federal approvals needed to begin the construction of the 2.6 GW project.The approvals are keeping the largest offshore wind farm in the United States on schedule to generate clean, renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes once fully constructed.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided its final approval of CVOW's Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction offshore.The U.S.

19 Jan 2024

US Plugs in First Large Offshore Wind Farm as Developers Play Catch-up

(A GE Haliade-X turbine stands in the Vineyard Wind 1 project area south of Martha’s Vineyard. (Photo: Worldview Films, courtesy Vineyard Offshore)

The U.S. offshore wind industry reached an important milestone on January 2 when Vineyard Wind 1, the country’s first large scale project, supplied first power to the Massachusetts grid.“As the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm this is a fairly momentous event,” Ken Kimmell, Chief Development Officer for Avangrid, the Iberdrola subsidiary co-developing the project with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), told Reuters Events.The turbine will be joined by 61 additional turbines to provide 806 MW of power to the grid by the end of the year…

26 Dec 2023

US Offshore Wind Poised for 2024 Success After Turbulent 2023

© Cavan / Adobe Stock

The U.S. offshore wind industry is eying a brighter 2024, with work expected to start on several projects following a year marked by stalled developments and billions of dollars in write-offs.The offshore wind industry is expected to play a major role in helping several states and U.S. President Joe Biden meet goals to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change.But progress slowed in 2023 after offshore developers canceled contracts to sell power in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey…

27 Nov 2023

The $1 Billion Offshore Wind Prize for US Shipyards

© A / Adobe Stock

The U.S. offshore wind market presents a $1 billion long-term opportunity to builders of crew transfer vessels (CTV) and service operation vessels (SOV) that will support both wind farm construction and long-term operations and maintenance. Unlike many of the construction vessels to be deployed on U.S. wind projects, CTVs and SOVs must be Jones Act compliant, meaning they will be built, owned and operated by U.S. companies and personnel.However, although seen as somewhat commoditized vessels…

27 Nov 2023

Biden's Clean Energy Agenda Faces Mounting Headwinds

Credit: Dragon Claws/AdobeStock

Canceled offshore wind projects, imperiled solar factories, and fading demand for electric vehiclesA year after the passage of the largest climate change legislation in U.S. history, meant to touch off a boom in American clean energy development, economic realities are fraying President Joe Biden’s agenda.Soaring financing and materials costs, unreliable supply chains, delayed rulemaking in Washington and sluggish permitting have wrought havoc ranging from offshore wind developer Orsted’s project cancellations in the U.S.

01 Nov 2023

U.S. Approves Construction of 2.6 GW Offshore Wind Project

Credit: BOEM

The U.S. Department of Interior on Tuesday approved the construction and operations plan for the 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, located approximately 23.5 nautical miles off Virginia Beach, VA.This is the fifth approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind energy project in the United States.Located approximately 23.5 nautical miles offshore Virginia Beach, the CVOW commercial project is the largest yet.According to the Department of Interior, the project is expected to provide about 900 jobs each year during the construction phase and support an estimated 1…

19 Oct 2023

Offshore Wind Developers Likely to Cancel Some Contracts After NY Decision

© nblxer / Adobe Stock

Developers in the U.S. offshore wind industry will likely cancel some power sales contracts in New York after the state last week denied passing on more of the costs to consumers, but major projects off Massachusetts and Rhode Island are set to start up later this year.Several states and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration consider offshore wind to be a key part of their plans to transition away from fossil fuels for energy, create jobs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.Last week…

26 Sep 2023

First Monopiles for Giant U.S. Offshore Wind Project Set Sail

Credit:  EEW SPC

German offshore wind monopile maker EEW SPC said Monday that the first eight monopiles for the Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project in the U.S. were loaded at the Rostock quayside in Germany, and set sail for the U.S. on September 21, 2023.In preparation for RoRo loading, the monopiles were lifted into the transport cradle using the Strand Jack system. Now aboard the carrier deck, the foundations are on their way to Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Va.…

25 Sep 2023

U.S. BOEM Completes Environmental Review of Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project

Credit: Alex/AdobeStock

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Monday it had completed its environmental review of the proposed Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project.“The completion of our environmental review marks another step towards a clean energy future—one that benefits communities and co-exists with other ocean users,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “The best available science and knowledge shared by Tribes, other government agencies, local communities, ocean users…

05 Sep 2023

How Serious a Problem is the Cost Issue in U.S. Offshore Wind?

Credit: mark_gusev/AdobeStock

Much has been written recently about the challenges facing U.S. offshore wind projects, resulting in requests to terminate or renegotiate contracts to sell power to states. Examples of these challenges can be found from Massachusetts to Virginia. Coming on top of last week’s somewhat disappointing events of the Gulf of Mexico lease auction, speculation has mounted around the longer-term prospects for U.S. wind. But how serious is this problem, and what does it mean to the longer-term goals of the federal administration to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind by 203 and 110 GW by 2050?Below…

28 Aug 2023

Offshore Wind: US Shipbuilders Answering the Call

From left to right: Lasse Petterson, CEO of Great Lakes Dredge and Dock; Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa.; President Joe Biden; and Steinar Nerbovik, CEO of Philadelphia Shipyard (Photo: Philly Shipyard)

It’s a big deal when a U.S. president visits an American shipyard, and these trips always send a message. When President Obama spoke at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in 2013, he warned of the consequences of sequestration. President Trump’s 2020 speech at Fincantieri Marinette Marine touted a $5.5 billion naval contract that gave a welcome boost to the Wisconsin shipyard and its supply chain partners. Most recently, President Biden traveled to Philadelphia’s Philly Shipyard…

04 Aug 2023

Dominion Sees Virginia Offshore Wind Farm Complete in Late 2026

Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project (Photo: Stephen Boutwell / BOEM)

U.S. energy company Dominion Energy said on Friday that its roughly $10 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project was on budget and on track for completion in late 2026.The company said in its second quarter earnings presentation that it expected to get a Record of Decision from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) in the second half of 2023. The Record of Decision is a step in the process before construction can start.The roughly 2,600-megawatt (MW) project consists of 176 turbines…

18 Oct 2023

Powering the North American Maritime Fuel Transition

(Photo: Harvey Gulf)

Offshore service vessels, along with workboats serving harbors and inland rivers, have embarked on an industry-wide voyage toward reduced emissions of greenhouse gasses. Professor Craig Philip, a faculty member with Vanderbilt University’s Center for Transportation and Operational Resilience (VECTOR) and former CEO of Ingram Barge Company, provides this context: “The Maritime Sector has long provided shippers with the most fuel-efficient and sustainable freight transport option…

03 May 2023

A New Generation of WTIVs

Crane lifting foundation ready for installation. (Photo by Ulrich Wirrwa; Image Source Cadeler)

WTIVs have always been fuel-hungry. Now they are being tasked with installations that are further, deeper and heavier.Offshore wind farms continue their march into deeper water, further from shore, with turbines that can now reach more than 270 meters high with blades 120 meters long. Designers and OEMs are pushing efficiency to new levels to contain OPEX on the new-generation jack-up WTIVs taking them up there.Danish ship design firm Knud E. Hansen has chosen specialization for its Atlas A-class WTIV, a smaller derivation of its massive C-class design.

26 Apr 2023

UXO Survey Kicks Off Along Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Export Cable Route

Credit: Hydra Offshore Construction

U.S. offshore wind developer Dominion Energy is this week kicking off unexploded ordinance identification within the export cable corridor and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) lease area located offshore of Virginia Beach, Virginia.The U.S. Coast Guard said in a notice to mariners that the UXO works would start on or about April 25, 2023, and run until Fall 2023.The UXO Identification work will begin with the mobilization of the M/V Subsea Responder I, followed shortly by the M/V Subsea Responder II.

17 Apr 2023

2023 US Shipbuilding Report

Philly Shipyard is currently building MARAD’s National Security Multi-Mission Vessels, which will serve as training ships for the nation’s state maritime academies. (Photo: Philly Shipyard)

Much has changed since Marine News’ 2022 shipbuilding report published in March last year, and business opportunities in certain market segments continue to grow. But the shipyards that are looking to cash in are still facing many of the same challenges.For example, many American shipyards and their partners throughout the shipbuilding supply chain are still finding it difficult to attract and retain the workers they need. If you’re a skilled craftsperson looking for a job in shipbuilding, you’re in luck, because there are plenty of openings at shipyards across the country.

27 Feb 2023

HAV Design Becomes First European Firm to Design SOV for U.S. market

©Fincantieri

The Norwegian company HAV Group said Monday that its ship-design subsidiary, HAV Design, had signed a contract with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding to construct a newbuild service operation vessel (SOV) destined for the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project in the U.S.The ship will be built for CREST, a partnership between the U.S. company Crowley and the Danish company ESVAGT."The contract marks the U.S. breakthrough for HAV Design, which becomes the first European ship designer to develop an SOV for the U.S. market," HAV said.The U.S. plans to install 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030.

24 Feb 2023

Crane for US-built WTIV Charybdis Heads to Texas

(Photo: Huisman)

The crane for the first ever U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) is on its way to America.The 2,200mt Huisman leg encircling crane has been loaded onto BigLift Shipping's Happy Star for shipment to the Keppel AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, where it will be installed on Charybdis, a WTIV being built for Blue Ocean Energy Marine, a Dominion Energy company. The heavy lift ship recently left China, according to AIS ship tracking data.Once delivered, Huisman North America…

18 Jan 2023

Offshore Wind: Shipbuilder Selected for Crowley, Esvagt JV SOV

©Fincantieri Marine Group

Following the news on Wednesday that Crest Wind, a joint venture between Crowley and ESVAGT, is set to build a service operation vessel for operations in the U.S. offshore wind sector, the partners have now selected a shipbuilder for the SOV construction.Fincantieri Marine Group said Wednesday it had reached an agreement on a contract with CREST Wind to design and build a 288-ft. HAV 832 Service Operation Vessel (SOV).SOVs are purpose-built vessels used to transport technicians to service and sustain the operation of wind turbines at sea. Crowley is a U.S.

23 Jan 2023

St. Johns Lays Keel for Second Atlantic Wind Transfers CTV

Representatives from USCG, St. Johns Ship Building, Americraft Marine, Atlantic Wind Transfers, Chartwell Marine, EMS, BEE, MAN Engines, Hamilton Waterjets and ZF participated in a keel laying ceremony at St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla. (Photo: Chartwell Marine)

Palatka, Fla. shipbuilder St. Johns Ship Building held a keel laying ceremony on January 18 for the second in a series of up six new aluminum crew transfer vessels (CTVs) for Rhode Island-based Atlantic Wind Transfers (AWT) to service the offshore wind farm industry."This is another milestone for Atlantic Wind Transfers as we lay the keel for our second crew transfer vessel at St. John’s as AWT continues to expand its CTV fleet to support offshore wind construction and O&M in the U.S., said AWT founder Charles A. Donadio Jr.

09 Feb 2023

Dominion 'on track' with $9.8B VA Offshore Wind Farm

Copyright Studio-FI/AdobeStock

Dominion Energy executives said on Wednesday that the electric utility's $9.8 billion offshore Virginia wind farm is on track and on budget, having recently entered a critical phase of the environmental review process.The roughly month-long crucial public comment period on the environmental impact study of the 2.6 gigawatt project will end in February, Dominion Chief Executive Officer Robert Blue said on the Richmond, Virginia-based company's quarterly earnings call. "As it relates to the project's execution…

08 Feb 2023

Frontiers Extend as Developers Eye Floating Wind Potential

CREST Wind, a joint venture between Crowley and ESVAGT, has selected Fincantieri Marine Group to build a service operation vessel for operations in the U.S. offshore wind sector. (Image: CREST Wind)

America may have only entered the offshore wind sector recently, but it is wasting no time in playing catch-up. The White House has set targets of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. The focus so far has centred on bottom-fixed installations, but the prospect of higher energy yields in deeper waters where the wind blows stronger and longer now beckon. The White House has also set a floating wind deployment target of 15 GW by 2035.From a standing start, there are immense challenges in America’s offshore wind development.