The ship Dominion Energy needs to install 176 giant wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean, 27 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, has been launched, as the utility has won its 11th and final federal permit for the $9 billion project.
The ship, called Charybdis, is a U.S. flag vessel.
That means Dominion can stage all of the components for the more than 800-foot-tall turbines in Virginia port facilities — it had to shuttle these from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the first two, smaller turbines it installed on its ocean lease.
The only ship Dominion could find to do the work was registered in Luxembourg, and U.S. law bars foreign flag ships from moving cargo between U.S. points.
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The 472-foot Charybdis’ home port will be Hampton Roads, and it will have an American crew.
While the Seatrium shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, still has some finishing work to complete, the launch means the ship’s hull is watertight and, critically, the four legs and jack-up system needed to maneuver turbine components into place are working.
“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 CEO.
Dominion expects the ship will make Virginia a center for offshore wind as other projects get underway along the Atlantic coast.
Meanwhile, Dominion’s project received a final construction air permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The issue of the 11th and final federal permit required to begin offshore construction and the launch of Charybdis keep the project on schedule, with installation of the turbines set to begin next month, Dominion said.
Dominion expects the wind farm to be online in 2026. It will generate enough electricity to power up to 660,000 homes.
Charybdis is named for the whirlpool that Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s “Odyssey,” had to navigate past in one of his many challenges returning home from the Trojan War.