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Dominion says Coastal offshore project largely on track; tariffs and interconnection remain risks
Summary
Dominion Energy told the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority that turbines are operating within design margins, monopile installation is nearly complete and sequential commissioning should enable first power deliveries in January, while tariff exposure and PJM interconnection timelines pose cost and schedule risks.
Dominion Energy presented a construction and operations update to the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority, saying the project remains largely on schedule but faces two material risks: possible tariffs on future imports and PJM interconnection delays.
John Larson, director of public policy and economic development at Dominion Energy Virginia, said two installed turbines performed as expected during a recent storm and strain gauges showed no design exceedances. ‘‘We’re seeing exactly what we want to see, and that’s the good performance and staying within the design envelope,’’ Larson said.
Larson reported that roughly 88% of monopiles are in place, with the last eight expected to arrive in about two weeks, and that foundations for other substations are installed or arriving on a September–November timetable. Dominion has commissioned the onshore export substation work and had completed overhead and much of the underground onshore work near Naval Air Station Oceana. ‘‘We’ll still be able to send power back to the grid in January,’’ Larson said, describing a plan for sequential commissioning that would allow earlier, staged energization of turbines.
On cabling, Larson said all deepwater export cable work is in place for its portion of the route and inter-array cable installation was at about 10% completion; he cautioned that inter-array cabling is a slower, more complex operation. "It takes about a month to go from the beach all the way out to that 12-mile point," he said.
Larson acknowledged a potential cost exposure tied to newly proposed tariffs and described Dominion’s internal estimate of related incremental costs. "We do not pay tariffs on anything we have already received," he said, adding that any tariff would apply only to material arriving after a tariff takes effect. He also pointed to PJM interconnection timelines as an external constraint: "You can build it, but if you can't get it online for seven years, you got a problem," he told members.
The company described local economic activity linked to construction and operations: about 73 companies in Virginia Beach have contracts related to the project, some 500 people were working in Virginia Beach on contract scopes, and the broader project has engaged around 1,000 Virginians overall, with the majority in Hampton Roads. Larson said Dominion plans to issue more than 75 maintenance and service contracts for the operations phase, some contracts expected to run 30-plus years.
The update concluded with a pledge to track costs and keep stakeholders informed; members asked for further detail on tariffs, federal communications about project continuity and local workforce outcomes. The authority asked staff to return with requested clarifications and to note federal developments in the annual report update.
