Dominion Energy offered a full-throated defense of its offshore wind project Wednesday, saying it offers one of the best chances to meet potentially soaring energy demands from an explosion of data centers in Virginia.
Company executives said in an earnings call that the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is on schedule to begin operating in 2026 despite a flurry of actions by the Trump administration against the wind industry. Dominion said it has installed 78 of the project’s 176 turbine foundations and completed 60 percent of the onshore infrastructure. It has also laid more than half of the deepwater export cables, and construction of a new vessel for installing turbines is 96 percent finished. The boat is expected to begin work on the project later this year.
The announcement comes amid a challenging economic and political environment for offshore wind. Rising costs have delayed or canceled some projects along the East Coast, while President Donald Trump has targeted the industry with an executive order that calls for a review of existing projects. His decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is another hurdle for an industry whose components are primarily made in Europe.
But Dominion executives expressed confidence that the project would move forward despite those moves, framing the project as a source of homegrown energy that can fuel a boom in data centers for artificial intelligence.
