Virginia offshore wind project still on track for 2026

An offshore wind project in Virginia is on track to be completed by the end of 2026 despite the impact of tariffs and the Donald Trump executive orders aimed at rolling back the renewable energy sector’s progress in the past few years. Dominion Energy’s $10.9 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project off the coast of Virginia Beach might be in peril if the Trump administration gets its way. However, those concerns aside, the project is on track to meet the 2026 completion date. Will the Trump administration step in to halt the project, or will the CVOW project remain on track?

The Trump administration is hard at work rolling back the construction of huge wind farms in the US

The evidence suggests that the Donald Trump administration is doing everything in its considerable power to halt all major wind projects in the United States. The recent news of the Orsted Revolution Wind project being ordered to halt operations is a worrying sign for the American energy sector. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ordered Orsted to stop construction on the project, citing a January memorandum by President Donald Trump.

That memorandum stated that the BOEM told Orsted North America to “halt all ongoing activities related to the Revolution Wind Project” while the federal government reviews potential national security concerns.

“Americans deserve energy that is affordable, reliable, and built to last — not experimental and expensive wind projects that are proven failures,”  – Interior Department Deputy Press Secretary Aubrie Spady

Virginia’s CVOW project is still on track despite the Trump administration’s reluctance to support wind power

Despite the apparent reluctance by the Trump administration to support large-scale offshore wind projects, Dominion Energy states that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is on track to be completed by the end of 2026. Reports are that the CVOW is roughly 60% complete.

Once construction is complete and the project comes online, it will consist of 176 wind turbines generating up to 9.5 million megawatt-hours per year of energy, which is enough to power up to 660,000 homes. 

“Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind is a customer-driven project only months away from delivering its first power to Virginia’s economy. Virginia’s shipyards, military bases, defense manufacturers and data centers are depending on power from CVOW to fuel Virginia’s growing economy. The project is supporting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in Hampton Roads. It has broad, bipartisan support and is a critical part of Virginia’s all of the above energy strategy.” – Dominion spokesperson Jeremy L. Slayton

Some insiders are not optimistic regarding the CVOW’s chances of being completed on schedule

Brett Massimino, chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics at Virginia Commonwealth University, has expressed his concern about the CVOW project being completed on time. Pointing to a rise in costs that can be attributed to tariffs and the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back the wind sector.

“I don’t see … Dominion finishing the project out the way it was originally planned to be. Whether that is just stopping at this point, wherever they are in construction, and running with what they have, or if it involves terminating the project entirely and shutting it down, I don’t know.”  – Brett Massimino, chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics at Virginia Commonwealth University

Dominion Energy states that tariffs are having a significant effect on costs

The tariff situation in the United States is affecting nearly every aspect of everyday life in the United States. From eggs to oil, tariffs have been responsible for the rise in costs for several sectors in the US. Dominion Energy incurred an unbelievable $73 million in tariffs through the end of the second quarter of this year. And those numbers are on track to get even worse if the tariffs continue. Despite the advancements being made in the wind energy sector in the United States, the Trump administration has implemented several tactics to roll back any and all wind projects for the foreseeable future.