Meet The Offshore Wind Project That Survived The Trump Chopper

The article discusses the resilience of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, a 2.6-gigawatt offshore wind farm led by Dominion Energy, which survived political opposition during the Trump administration. Despite former President Donald Trump's efforts to halt five offshore wind projects along the Atlantic Coast, including attempts to impose pre-construction reviews and ban new offshore leases, CVOW continued progressing. The project began in 2013 with a lease secured under the Obama administration and launched a pilot phase with two 6-megawatt turbines in 2020. Trump’s administration, while hostile to offshore wind, was unable to fully derail the project due to ongoing momentum and institutional support within the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Dominion Energy capitalized on technological advancements, upgrading to Siemens Gamesa’s larger 14-15 megawatt turbines for the full 176-turbine array, with pre-construction starting in 2023. Political support from Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn