Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project delivered its first power to the regional grid March 23 from a 14.7-megawatt Siemens Gamesa turbine, marking a milestone two months after a federal court allowed the company to resume work.
The CVOW project was one of five permitted and underway East Coast wind projects the Trump administration sought to shut down with a blanket Dec. 22 stop-work order.
“CVOW is critical to Virginia’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to meet the increasing power needs of a growing economy and population, the largest data center market in the world and among the largest military installations and defense manufacturers in the country,” company spokesman Jeremy Slayton said in a statement to Virginia news media organizations.
Dominion recently completed a third offshore substation for the $11.5 billion, 176-turbine array expected to be fully operational in early 2027.
The project’s first-power came the same day that the U.S. Department of Interior announced a deal with TotalEnergies to refund $928 million the company previously paid for two wind leases in Carolina Bay and the New York Bight. In exchange the company pledged to invest a like amount into a Texas LNG project and other fossil fuel developments.
Renewable energy advocates belittled the TotalEnergies agreement as a face-saving exercise after the administration’s repeated court losses. The pro-wind BlueGreen Alliance cheered on Dominion’s subsequent announcement.
“This project employs hundreds of union workers across the state and will create a massive amount of affordable, clean energy for Virginia at a time when utility costs and energy demand is skyrocketing,” said Dan Taylor, the alliance’s Southeast field manager.
