Dominion Energy reported spiralling costs and delays for the first US-made wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) under construction in Galveston, Texas.

In its second-quarter filing this month with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Virginia-based utility noted that costs for the Charybdis, which is under construction by Keppel AmFELS, have risen to $625m.

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That is a sharp uptick from its reported $500m price tag in 2020 when it was commissioned.

It will also be delivered in late 2024 or early 2025, at least eight months behind schedule but still “well in advance of the need to support” the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project construction schedule, Dominion spokesman Jeremy Slayton told Recharge.

“There has been no change to the construction cost of the vessel,” he said, even though inflation and supply chain turmoil have roiled the global offshore wind industry.

Instead, “the term of the financing lease was extended, resulting in an increase in total project cost, inclusive of financing costs,” he said, without elaborating.

But the delay will see the WTIV miss its first outing for installation of Orsted and Eversource’s 704-MW Revolution Wind project.

Dominion commissioned the Charybdis to comply with the Jones Act, which forbids foreign-flagged vessels from calling in at consecutive US ports or points on the outer continental shelf, including offshore wind turbine sites.

As the US lacks WTIVs beyond the Charybdis, the sector will rely on foreign-flagged vessels that must remain at sea and supplied with components by feeder barges, generally considered a costlier, slower and riskier solution.

This story was originally published in Recharge, which covers the renewables industry. Read the full article here.

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