Sea trials are underway for the Charybdis, the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel now 96% complete at Brownsville, Texas, Dominion Energy reported in an updated on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The 472’x184’ Charybdis was launched at the Seatrium AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville in mid-April 2024. Scheduled for delivery later this year, the installation vessel will support the CVOW project with its planned 176 turbines rated up to 2.6 gigawatts.
Dominion’s investment was also aimed at the global shortage of wind installation vessels. As the first full-fledged U.S. Jones Act WTIV, the Charybdis would be available for other projects in U.S. waters. It could offer an alternative to Jones Act workarounds, with foreign-flag installation vessels reliant on U.S. tugs and barges ferrying turbine components to offshore installation sites.
“Charybdis is vital not only to CVOW but also to the growth of the offshore wind industry along the U.S. East Coast and is key to the continued development of a domestic supply chain by providing a homegrown solution for the installation of offshore wind turbines,” said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy's chair, president and chief executive officer, at the time of the launch.
Charybdis is designed to handle current and next-generation wind turbines up to 12 megawatts or larger. It is equipped with a 426’ crane capable of lifting up to 2,200 metric tons, and an accommodation capacity of up to 119 people.
The Coastal Virginia project “is now approximately 50% complete and remains on track for on-time completion at the end of 2026,” according to a Feb. 3 update by Dominion Energy.” CVOW is credited with creating 2,000 direct and indirect American jobs and $2 billion of economic activity.”
But like the rest of the offshore wind industry, Dominion’s project has been hit with sharply escalating costs – up around 9%, from $9.8 billion to $10.7 billion since “the original project budget was submitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) in November 2021, approximately 39 months ago,” the report notes.
The higher costs are related to power network upgrades required by regional grid operator PJM (shorthand for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland) “as part of the generator interconnect process and higher onshore electrical interconnection costs,” according to Dominion.
