'On time and on budget' | Dominion’s nation-leading 2.6GW CVOW outpaces US offshore wind peers

Dominion Energy’s 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project remains “on time and on budget, consistent with the timelines and estimates,” and expects to begin offshore installation next week, CEO Bob Blue said on a Thursday earnings call.

The US’ largest offshore wind array and the only one under development by a regulated utility is already 28% complete, Blue revealed, with 36 of the estimated 176 monopile foundations delivered by German steel fabricator EEW to the Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT).

“We've scheduled monopile installation across two seasons 2024 and 2025, which allows us to better mitigate any potential delays or disruptions without impacting final schedule,” said Blue.

The project is expected to be commissioned in 2026 when it will provide power for over 660,000 homes. Dominion is based in Virginia's capital Richmond.

Regulated market

In sharp contrast to other projects in the US, CVOW saw another decline in the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) to $73/MWh, “down modestly relative to our last update”, Blue added.

Drivers for the lower LCOE include “an updated REC [renewable energy credit] price forecast, which produces a larger project benefit for customers as well as other factors,” he said.

“There have been no changes to the capital cost, capacity factor or interest rates,” the chief executive added.

CVOW is budgeted at $9.8bn with 46% capacity factors based on data provided by the energy firm's 12MW pilot project in operation since 2020.

Virginia's highly regulated power market allows Dominion to develop CVOW as a conventional power project under strict oversight of state utility regulators and with guaranteed return on investment.

Blue confirmed that Siemens Gamesa “remains on track” for the manufacturing of its 14.7MW turbines slated for the project.

Legal jeopardy

He pushed back against recent news reports that claimed the project's construction was delayed due to a court injunction.

The suit claims CVOW will expose “federally-listed species, including the North Atlantic right whale (NARW) to project-related impacts that may jeopardise the survival of the species and impede its recovery.”

On 29 April, the plaintiffs filed a motion in the same court seeking a preliminary injunction to stop construction.

“We believe this lawsuit has no merit and we expect the court to deny the plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction,” Blue said, adding, “there has been no delay ordered.”

Charybdis

The WTIV had been slated for installation of the Orsted-led Revolution Wind project, but this was terminated by mutual agreement and “CVOW currently has sole and exclusive access to the vessel in 2025,” he said.

Charybdis is “is key to the continued development of a domestic supply chain by providing a homegrown solution for the installation of offshore wind turbines,” Blue said.

“We continue to see strong interest and use of the vessel after the CVOW project is complete,” he added.