Big CVOW Offshore Wind Farm At Danger If Dem Wins Gov Race

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We informed you so. For months, CleanTechnica has been chronicling the Republican struggle on offshore wind farms within the US. The entire threatened tasks come below the umbrella of blue states with Democratic governors, which isn’t a shocker. Besides, there may be one exception, the large 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Mission. As CleanTechnica identified again April and a number of other occasions since then (most just lately on September 23), Virginia’s Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, is an enormous fan of CVOW and the challenge seems secure — for now, that’s.

Virginia Is For (Offshore Wind) Lovers

Now that the overall media is lastly taking note of the Glenn Youngkin connection, let’s take one other have a look at CVOW. The offshore wind challenge has made common appearances on the pages of CleanTechnica for the reason that wind-friendly days of the Obama administration, which noticed the Inside Division’s newly shaped Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration difficulty a collection of leases for offshore wind growth alongside the Atlantic coast together with CVOW’s parcel of 112,799 acres off the coast of Virginia. BOEM issued the lease to the challenge developer, the main US utility Dominion Vitality, in 2013.

As with many different offshore wind tasks, CVOW by some means managed to maintain shifting by way of the event pipeline on as much as the final weeks of the primary Trump administration. Dominion submitted building plans to BOEM in December of 2020, which had been finally authorized in January 2024 throughout President Biden’s time period in workplace.

CVOW & The Jones Act Connection

Regardless of the lengthy years between 2013 and now, the timeline labored out in Dominion’s favor. Offshore turbine know-how has improved over the previous 12 years, and Dominion can now benefit from the efficiencies offered by specialised offshore wind building ships, too.

Particular operations vessels (SOVs) weren’t obtainable within the US in the course of the early years of offshore wind growth, because of an absence of ships compliant with a posh Nineteen Twenties-era piece of US maritime legislation referred to as the Jones Act, which is one other factor that has been surfacing on the CleanTechnica radar.

Amongst different provisions, the Jones Act restricts foreign-built and owned ships from transporting items and providers from one US port of name to a different. The principle thought is to maintain a lid on international interference with home transport, particularly in case of struggle breaking out.

Stakeholders within the offshore wind business did handle to determine some workarounds to set the wheels in movement, however a more practical answer can be for US shipyards to start constructing the specialised SOVs (service operations vessels) wanted to optimize the offshore workflow.

That lastly started to occur in Could of 2024, when the Louisiana ship builder Edison Chouest Offshore proudly launched its new ECO Edison SOV (Service Operations Vessel), billed because the “first-ever American-built, owned, and crewed offshore wind service operations vessel.”

Whereas Edison Chouest was celebrating, Dominion was additionally constructing a US-built, flagged, and crewed offshore wind ship, the Charybdis, on the Seatrium AmFELS shipyard in Brownsville, Texas. A key milestone occurred in April of 2024 when the ship reached the launch-into-water section. In February of this yr Dominion reported that Charybdis was 96% full and present process sea trials in Texas. By late August the ship was on its strategy to Virginia, and by mid-September it was reportedly docked and prepared for motion on the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia, simply in time to assist velocity completion of the CVOW challenge towards 2026, which is simply across the nook.

Rocky Seas Forward For US Offshore Wind Trade

As identified by Canary Media earlier immediately, Governor Youngkin just isn’t the one Virginia Republican to champion the CVOW challenge. US Consultant Jen Kiggans can be a fan, partly on account of the $500 million grid improve to be acquired by Naval Air Station Oceana.

So, a lot of the work already achieved and completion simply months away, it seems like easy crusing for the CVOW challenge — or not, because the case could also be. Governor Youngkin is term-limited. Until one thing extraordinary occurs, the Democratic contender for the workplace, Abigail Spanberger is on observe to prevail in opposition to the Republican candidate and present Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Earle-Sears on Election Day in November.

A Spanberger victory would put Virginia and CVOW squarely within the crosshairs of President Trump’s chopping block. Because the starting of this yr, the President has suspended new offshore lease exercise, recalled permitted tasks for extra overview, and ordered building to cease on tasks already below means.

With out Youngkin’s assist, CVOW will lose its particular standing. If Spanberger does win, although, maybe she will be able to take a web page out of the ebook of New York Governor Kathy Hochul. When Trump stopped work on the Empire Wind challenge in New York state earlier this yr, Governor Hochul reportedly negotiated a quid professional quo with Trump in individual, and Empire was shortly again on observe.

Spanberger higher get her geese within the water as a result of it already seems just like the Trump administration is already prepping for a Democrat to occupy the workplace of Virginia Governor after Election Day. At a convention in Italy final month, Inside Secretary Doug Burgum reportedly confirmed that his company is reviewing 5 offshore wind tasks already below building, together with the CVOW challenge.

In an fascinating flip of occasions, Empire Wind can be on the checklist together with one other New York challenge, Dawn Wind. Governor Hochul might have to tug one other card from her sleeve to maintain each of these tasks in movement.

Make America Lose Once more

For the document, rounding Burgum’s hit checklist is Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Winery Wind 1 in Massachusetts.

Whereas all this is happening, the worldwide offshore wind business is already leveling as much as the subsequent section of progress. As an alternative of counting on standard monopile building strategies that apply to comparatively shallow waters, the business is gearing up for the widespread use of floating turbine platforms that may be tethered in deep water, opening up entire new areas for wind growth.

One other offshore wind business development to control is multi-use, wherein offshore wind farms host floating photo voltaic arrays and wave power converters. The aquaculture business can be eyeballing alternatives to piggyback on offshore wind infrastructure, as nicely.

Too unhealthy the US is lacking out on all these new alternatives. What with the economic system circling the drain and AI taking on the work that people used to do, it certain can be good to have extra jobs for individuals obtainable in building, ship-building, manufacturing and the like.

If in case you have any ideas about that, drop a word within the remark thread. Higher but, discover your representatives in Congress and inform them what you assume.

Picture (cropped): The huge 2.6-gigawatt CVOW challenge might develop into one other casualty in President Donald Trump’s struggle on wind, though it’s nearing completion (courtesy of CVOW/Dominion).