Karl E. Humberson jokes that his leadership role for the country’s largest offshore wind energy project—Dominion Energy’s $10-billion, 178-turbine CVOW off the Virginia coast, on track to finish by the end of 2026—started as a respite from subzero temperatures endured on a Midwest gas project for the firm. “When I got back to my hotel room, I received a call asking if I’d be willing to help in construction” of something new­ hundreds of miles east—giant ocean-based machines set to generate 2.6 GW of power in a 113,000-acre site some 27 miles offshore. “They could have asked me to be a fry cook and I would have said yes in that moment.”

In a more serious note, the Dominion offshore project manager—who joined the company in 2011 with a marine engineering degree and energy sector experience—says his instinct to take on the challenge now involves managing a global supply chain, complex logistics and changing politics to install Siemens Gamesa-made turbines that each are 869 ft at tip height and generate 14.7 MW, as well as large support infrastructure, all in a risky physical environment, project conditions “I’ve always been drawn to,” he says.

Elevated last July to Dominion vice president of offshore wind construction, Humberson steers ahead in a sector pummeled by inflation, supply chain gaps and approval headwinds during the first Trump administration that reversed under President Joe Biden but could reemerge based on random campaign comments by now President-elect Donald Trump.

As a regulated utility, with set project returns and user charges hard won from regulators, and with key supply chain contractors and costs mostly locked in before COVID-19, Dominion has avoided many financial woes facing commercial developers. CVOW “is a credible testament to the capability to build wind farms at large scale,” says Theodore Paradise, an attorney and policy expert at developer CTC Global.

“Once you get your head wrapped around the scale of the components, which is astounding, you realize that … moving things around the world becomes rather complex,” says Humberson. He gained insights in building CVOW’s two pilot turbines in 2020, each 6 MW, which offer “actual reliability statistics for modeling” and have aided regulators in permit approvals. 

Humberson also oversaw offsite construction in Texas of Charybdis, the 472-ft-long turbine-installing ship soon to arrive at CVOW. It is the first to meet federal rules allowing only domestic vessels on offshore wind sites. U.S. developers now use a convoluted, costly transfer of foreign-made components and barge-assisted installation. Fabrication delays cancelled the vessel’s earlier use by other developers and caused a price hike to $715 million, but Humberson says these are balanced by the old method’s bigger costs and risks.

Humberson, on the right in the cab of giant Orion crane, takes in view at CVOW marshalling site in Portsmouth, Va., with DEME first crane operator Gary Waumans, before the equipment supplied by the project contractor is loaded on a vessel to install foundations at sea for the project’s 176 wind turbines, each 14.7 MW.
Photo courtesy of Dominion Energy

Work is on track, with 82 turbine foundations installed as of its late
October project halt for whale migration. Work will restart in spring,
boosted by a $2.6-billion private investor deal last year for a 50%
project stake. 

Humberson says the project’s steady progress has
boosted supply chain confidence. South Korean manufacturer unit LS
Greenlink in 2024 announced a $681-million high-voltage subsea cable
plant in Chesapeake, Va., first in the U.S., with Virginia Gov. Glenn
Youngkin (R)saying it “will showcase the [state] as a leader in offshore
wind industry manufacturing.” 

Says Mark D. Mitchell, senior vice
president of all Dominion energy project construction,”beside having
excellent commercial and construction skills and being a problem solver,
Karl develops his employees by getting them as much exposure to all
facets of project management.” He adds that CVOW is “a fascinating
megaproject and being the first U.S. utility to construct, own and
operate one of the world’s largest offshore wind projects has drawn …
talented employees who want to be on the ground floor of something special.”

Observers note the importance of such a large project succeeding. “Very few power plants are that big, and no other form of generation could be built in two years. Virginia needs electricity and there’s only one project ready to go,” says Willett Kemp, professor of engineering and marine science at the University of Delaware and a nationally known expert in offshore wind power and policy issues. 

“This project would advance the learning rate and supply chain of the offshore wind industry overall. Even delays, especially for a project already permitted and ready to build, would be expensive and damaging to Virginia. Hopefully the president-elect and his advisors will make the right tradeoffs.”

Humberson notes more potential work in developing future Dominion offshore wind lease sites, or in other of its growing energy areas. “I feel like the industry didn’t think we would be where we are today,” he says.