First Monopile Foundations for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project Arrive at Portsmouth Marine Terminal 

• Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) remains on budget and on schedule 
• Dominion Energy expects to begin offshore construction in early 2024 and to conclude in late 2026 
• These eight monopile foundations are the first of 176 to be delivered and staged in Portsmouth 

RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project took one more step to starting construction when the first eight monopile foundations were safely offloaded at Portsmouth Marine Terminal, where they will be staged until installation of the 2.6-gigawatt project, enough electricity to power 660,000 homes, begins in the spring of 2024. The foundations, which are a single vertical, steel cylinder, are being manufactured by global leader EEW SPC and will be installed into the sea floor to support the wind turbine generators. 

“The delivery of the first foundations is further evidence that our Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project continues to move forward on time and on budget to provide reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to our customers,” said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy’s chair, president and chief executive officer. “This regulated offshore wind project positions us, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, as leaders in the development of offshore wind and provides many benefits for our customers and local economies.” 

CVOW, the largest offshore wind project under development in the United States, is expected to generate fuel savings of $3 billion for customers during the project’s first 10 years of operation. 

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. 

Offshore wind’s economic development and jobs benefits are transformative for Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth. More than 750 Virginia-based workers – nearly 530 in the Hampton Roads region – have been engaged on the CVOW project or with other businesses supporting CVOW, including redevelopment work at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, construction of the offshore wind Monitoring and Coordination Center, maritime provisioning, ship repairs, divers, heavy lift and rigging, cyber security, food service and hospitality. More than 1,000 local jobs will be needed to support ongoing operations and maintenance of this facility after the project is commercial. 

The offloading of the foundations was supported by union workers from the International Longshoremen’s Association, the largest union of maritime workers in North America.