The cost of Dominion Energy’s Charybdis vessel has increased to $715 million from $625 million in the first quarter of 2024, executives told a recent earnings call.
The original cost had been $500 million when the vessel was ordered in 2020. The 144-metre Charybdis is being constructed at Seatrium’s shipyard in Brownsville, Texas.
Utility Dominion plans to use Charybdis to install its 2640MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project off the coast of Virginia.
Heavier turbines and increased financing costs were to blame for the cost rise, the company said.
Capital expenditure costs increased $55 million. The deck had to be stiffened and hull reinforced for carrying the 176 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-222 DD turbines to the project site.
“The modifications will enable Charybdis to handle the latest technology turbine design,” said Dominion CEO Bob Blue.
The vessel's construction is now being finished in Texas and is 89% complete, said a Dominion spokesperson.
The CVOW project, once completed in 2026, will be the largest off the US. Construction of the wind farm is due to start in the third quarter of next year.
Charybdis will be the first Jones Act-compliant vessel for installing wind turbines, according to Dominion. The archaic Jones Act of 1920 requires that all goods transported by water between US ports be carried on ships that have been constructed in the US, fly the US flag, are owned by Americans and have an American crew.
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