Frequently Asked Questions

Dominion Energy followed a rigorous, competitive procurement process to reach an agreement on major contract packages for CVOW, resulting in the selection of industry leading wind partners.

Below is a brief summary of the recently finalized contracts:

• EEW SPC, with more than 80 years of experience producing steel pipe and corresponding pipe components, to manufacture 176 steel monopile foundations, the largest being 268 feet long and weighing 1,755 tons.
• Bladt Industries to manufacture 176 transition pieces, weighing as much as 800 tons, and bind the monopile foundation and turbine together, while providing physical access to the turbines. Bladt has more than 25 years of experience working with turbine foundations and offshore substations.
• Bladt Industries and Semco Maritime to manufacture components for the three offshore substations, which are multi-story units weighing about 4,000 tons each, a topside platform with helicopter landing pad 157 feet above the water and support structures installed in the sea floor.
• DEME Offshore US LLC and Prysmian Group as a consortium to provide Balance of Plant services, including the transportation and installation of the foundation and substation components and installation of the subsea cables. DEME Offshore, with a vast array of offshore experience, has installed more than 2,600 offshore wind turbine generators and 2,100 foundations worldwide.
• Prysmian Group, a global leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry will provide all of the subsea inter-array and export cables that will deliver the clean, renewable offshore wind energy to shore.

The need to use local content is an important aspect of our discussions with prime contractors and subcontractors.

We formed the Virginia Supply Chain team, consisting of Dominion Energy project team members representing offshore, onshore, operations, supply chain, public policy and outreach. This team will specifically work with CVOW’s major equipment providers to maximize opportunities for Virginia businesses and job creation.

The magnitude of economic impact and job creation is significant for CVOW. It is even larger if we successfully establish Virginia as the hub for the U.S. East Coast wind industry.

The best way for your business to get involved in Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project is to pre-register here. Once you are registered, your skills and competencies are readily available for members of the Dominion Energy Supply Chain team to review and evaluate.

GWO develops training standards and is a certifying agency led by industry leaders. The safety portion is critical. All who work on the positions offshore will need this training. The requirements for going out on a vessel and gaining access to the wind turbines include the five GWO elements:

1. Basic offshore training/onshore training
2. GWO first aid training
3. Working at heights/rescue
4. Fire awareness training
5. Sea survival training

In October 2020, Virginia’s Governor, Ralph Northam, announced the Mid-Atlantic Wind Training Alliance. The New College Institute, which will serve as the host institution, is joining forces with Centura College and the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy to create the Mid-Atlantic Wind Training Alliance. It’s likely they are offering four of the five modules, with the exception of the sea survival training.

Currently, FMTC Safety in Houma, Louisiana and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, are the two entities that offer the full training, which takes a week to complete.

It’s important to note that GWO training is good for two years, then you have return for a refresher (same level of training).

Typically, accreditation for a specific certification is received from the issuing organization. The Global Wind Organization (GWO) is an example of an issuing organization for offshore worker certification.

To learn more about becoming a supplier to the CVOW project, we invite you to visit the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Supply Chain site. There you can also find recorded Virtual Supplier Education Sessions in which information was shared on how you can avail your business of the opportunities to participate in the project.

The best way for your business to get involved in Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project is to pre-register here.

We also recommend that you visit the Hampton Roads Alliance Offshore Wind site to register with the Virginia Offshore Wind Supply Chain Partnership Directory to stay informed of supply chain opportunities and receive industry updates.

Dominion Energy looks forward to providing diverse suppliers the opportunity to participate in the supply chain process. We encourage you to designate your company appropriately as a Small, Women-owned and Minority-owned (SWaM) business when you pre-register here with Dominion Energy. We will work with the CVOW contractors and subcontractors to maximize the opportunities for diverse suppliers and local businesses.

Dominion Energy followed a rigorous, competitive procurement process to reach an agreement on major contract packages for CVOW, which resulted in the selection of industry leading wind partners. Now, our objective is to maximize the opportunities for Virginia businesses. We encourage interested businesses to pre-register here in our supply chain system.

In early November, we launched the Virginia Supply Chain team, tasked with working with each major equipment provider to identify the direct and subcontracted commercial activity they plan to conduct in Virginia.

Once these scopes of work are identified, Dominion Energy Virginia and these major equipment providers will engage with local, regional and state economic development authorities and trade organizations, such as the Hampton Roads Alliance and the Virginia Maritime Association, to share these opportunities. From there, these groups and the company will host construction expositions and meetings between Virginia businesses and the major equipment providers.

It is important to register your business in our supply chain system as well as Virginia's Offshore Wind Supply Chain Partnership Directory, hosted by the Hampton Roads Alliance. This information will be shared with the major equipment providers, and you will be on a mailing list for event invitations.

As the scopes are identified, the types of job roles needed to support the businesses can be assessed. Dominion Energy will share the job roles with workforce councils, primary and secondary educational institutions and community organizations to promote interest and encourage engagement in training and apprenticeships for those interested in joining the offshore wind workforce. The Hampton Roads Workforce Council hosts a database for those interested in offshore wind jobs.

We will be working with our major equipment providers in the first quarter of 2022 and plan to begin outreach to Virginia’s business and the workforce development organizations in the second quarter of 2022.

Dominion Energy looks forward to providing small and diverse suppliers the opportunity to participate in the supply chain process. We encourage you to designate your company appropriately as a Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned (SWaM) business when you pre-register here with Dominion Energy. We will work with the CVOW contractors and subcontractors to maximize the opportunities for diverse suppliers and local businesses.

Currently, the offshore wind supply chain in the U.S. is limited. Dominion Energy is collaborating with local, regional and state economic development agencies to recruit and develop a robust domestic offshore wind supply chain based in Virginia.

In October 2021, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy announced the first offshore wind turbine blade facility in the U.S., creating 310 new jobs including nearly 50 operations and maintenance jobs to support Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. The blades from this facility will be used for the CVOW project.

We invite you to visit Dominion Energy’s Careers page: Dominion Energy Careers. This site will allow you to create a profile and share your resume with us. You can also sign up to receive notifications about jobs of specific interest.