U.S. Department of Interior officials got a close look at Dominion Energy’s wind turbine installation vessel Charybdis under construction in Brownsville, Texas, March 20.
Steve Feldgus, Interior’s principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Elizabeth Klein and Bureau of Safety toured the 472’ vessel at the Seatrium AmFELS shipyard.
The Charybdis will be the first U.S.-built and Jones Act-qualified WTIV. When completed and operational, the vessel will be based out of Hampton Roads, Va., and operated by a U.S. crew. The vessel will support of the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, with a planned 176 turbines.
The Charybdis is designed to handle next-generation wind energy turbine sizes of 14.7 megawatts and larger. Dominion Energy anticipates construction to be complete in late 2024 or 2025.
