Turbines for US offshore wind demo set sail to N America

The foundations and turbine components for the 12-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project in US waters are now being shipped from Europe to North America, it was announced today.

The project developer, Dominion Energy Inc (NYSE:D), said in a statement that the monopiles, transition pieces and anode cages fabricated by EEW SPC have been loaded onto the Bigroll Beaufort cargo ship in Rostock, Germany. At the same time, the components for the turbines were loaded in Esbjerg, Denmark, and are now travelling to Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. The company expects installation work to begin later this spring.

CVOW is a pilot scheme that envisages the installation of two turbines about 27 miles (43.45 km) off the coast of Virginia. The project got clearance from the State Corporation Commission in November 2018 and Dominion Energy held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch onshore construction in the summer of 2019. The wind park is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Denmark’s Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) serves as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, while Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA (BME:SGRE) is supplying the two 6-MW turbines.

"Even though this project consists of two monopiles and transition pieces, it has profound importance for the development of the US offshore wind market, as this is the first project that successfully has passed all phases of BOEM approval," said Christoph Schorge, CEO of the EEW Group.

This demo project is part of a larger development that is expected to reach 2,600 MW of total capacity. Dominion Energy is currently carrying out ocean surveys to map the seabed of the 112,800-acre (45,650 ha) lease area where those turbines will be erected, which is expected to happen in 2024.

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