VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Dominion Energy is reporting a construction milestone in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.
Crews have installed the project's 50th monopile foundation, 33 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Those are vertical steel cylinders on the sea floor to support the wind turbine generators.
“We are avoiding all piling activities during the winter months only piling during the summer when we know they have moved out of the area,” Mitchell Jabs, the environmental permitting manager for the project, previously told 13News Now.
When completed, Dominion said the offshore wind project will consist of 176 turbines that will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes and is expected to generate fuel savings of $3 billion for customers during the first 10 years of operation.
Dominion is trying to install 70 to 100 monopile foundations by the end of October, before critically endangered North Atlantic right whales begin migrating for the season. Monopile installation will pick back up again in May 2025.