DEME and Prysmian win $1.9 billion Dominion Energy offshore wind award

Image: DEME

Dominion Energy Virginia, a subsidiary of Dominion Energy Inc., has awarded the largest U.S. offshore wind installation contract thus far to a consortium made up of Belgium’s DEME Group and Milan, Italy, headquartered Prysmian

The $1.9 billion award is a Balance of Plant (BoP) contract for the construction of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. On expected completion in 2026, the 2.6 GW wind farm, 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va., will be the largest wind farm in the U.S., and one of the largest in the world.

The CVOW project will play a crucial role in helping the Commonwealth of Virginia meet its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045. The project is located at approximately 27 miles (43 km) off the coast of Virginia Beach. The 2.6 GW offshore wind farm will be capable of supplying clean energy to as many as 660,000 households, while reducing carbon emissions by over 2 million tons per year.

Under DEME’s $1.1 billion slice of the action, DEME Offshore US LLC will be responsible for the transport and installation of 176 monopile transition piece foundations, three offshore substations, scour protection and the supply and installation of export and inter-array submarine cable systems.

DEME Offshore will oversee the complete offshore installation works for the foundations, substations, infield cables, as well as part of the export cables. For the fulfillment of the project, DEME Offshore entered in a consortium with Prysmian, the world leader in underwater energy cable systems.

CABLE SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION

Prysmian Group, says that the cable supply and installation works for which it will be responsible are worth about $726 million and are the largest submarine cable contract ever awarded in the U.S.

Prysmian Group will provide three 3-core 220kV HVAC export cables measuring approximately 62 kilometers long each, with XLPE insulation and single-wire armoring, and having a total length of approximately 560 kilometers. The company will also supply 320 kilometers of 3-core 66kV offshore inter-array cables with XLPE insulation.

The export cables will be produced in Arco Felice, Italy, and Pikkala, Finland, while the inter-array cables will be manufactured in Nordenham, Germany — Prysmian’s three centers of excellence for submarine cable production.

“We are grateful for Dominion Energy for the opportunity to launch this consortium. By working closely with our partners at Prysmian Powerlink, we will jointly support the project during the design and preparation phase with our joint expertise, and ultimately deliver on the promise of offshore wind power to the benefit of Virginia residents, businesses, and families,” said Jan Klaassen, Director, DEME Offshore US LLC.

DEME Group says it has spent many years building up its presence in the U.S. market and established DEME Offshore US LLC in Boston in 2019. That company will source the installation vessel and experts for the project from DEME Offshore, a member of the DEME Group.