Three of the five offshore wind projects now under construction in the northeast U.S. reported notable progress this week, following preliminary injunctions involving the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management after stop-work orders issued in late December.
At Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts, Iberdrola executives told investors on 25 February that, in their view, the project is complete. Executive Chairman Ignacio Galan said he considers it finished from an engineering perspective and confirmed that 60 of 62 turbines are fully installed. CEO Pedro Azagra said the project is about 80–85% operational, with roughly 52–55 turbines exporting electricity to the grid, and stated the final two turbines are expected to be installed in the coming days. Separate reporting has said the wind turbine installation vessel is contracted only through the end of February and will need to leave promptly for its next assignment.
Near Virginia Beach, Dominion Energy executives also described continuing advances at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. They said fabrication progress is strong, with about 70% of towers and 30% of blades completed, tracking to schedule. The company mounted its first turbine in January and said it is taking a deliberate approach on the early installations to proceed cautiously and learn as it goes. CEO Robert Blue said winter weather has affected the site but that work is continuing. The company did not disclose how many turbines are installed while maintaining it is on track to deliver first electricity this quarter.
Dominion Energy said turbine installation could continue possibly to July 2027 and warned that each additional quarter could add $150–200 million in project costs. The company reported that BOEM’s suspension order from late December to early January cost $228 million. It also said its capital budget includes $580 million of actual and estimated costs linked to the Trump tariffs, and that it has recognized $137 million in incremental tariff costs. The current capital budget is $11.5 billion, with $9.3 billion invested as of 31 December. As a longer-term impact connected to Trump’s opposition to offshore wind, the company also said it lowered future day-rate assumptions for its installation vessel Charybdis.
Despite the cost and schedule pressure, Blue told investors the company continues to view the project as the fastest way to deliver a significant amount of electricity at a low-cost level for customers involved in the AI sector and Navy shipbuilding.
A status alert from Ørsted also indicated turbine installation will soon begin at the Sunrise Wind project south of Massachusetts. A notice to mariners said Cadeler’s installation vessel Wind Scylla is currently docked at the Port of New London and, after previously operating at the nearby Revolution Wind site, is set to head into the Sunrise Wind work area when it returns offshore.
