NORFOLK, Va. — If you've been in Norfolk's West Ghent and Lambert's Point neighborhoods recently, especially at night, you may have noticed something that resembles the Eiffel Tower in the skyline.
Or at least that's what some 13News Now viewers told us.
But no, the world-famous tower wasn't magically transported from Paris to Hampton Roads. What you're seeing is the Orion, a heavy-lift vessel being used in Dominion Energy's offshore wind project.
Dominion Energy spokesperson Jeremy Slayton confirmed that the vessel is parked at the Port of Virginia, which has several terminals in Norfolk and Portsmouth. It arrived in port last weekend.
The company is using the vessel to install the monopile foundations for windmills being built nearly 30 miles off Virginia Beach's coast. By the time the project is complete, there will be 176 wind turbines.
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According to Ship Technology, the Orion has a heavy lift crane with a height of 295 feet and a 524-foot-long boom. The crane can lift loads of up to 5,000 tonnes to a height of 583 feet.
Before the work begins, Slayton told 13News Now that the Orion is undergoing mobilization and outfitting to support monopile foundations, which will be ready to be loaded next week.
"It is able to handle six monopile foundations per load," Slayton explained. "Once it's loaded, it will head out to the construction site [and] it will install those six monopiles over a period of days."
Photos of the Orion vessel
The installation will take place between May 1 and October 31 this year, due to the migration season for the endangered North Atlantic right whales. Slayton said work will resume in May 2025.