The new cable-laying vessel (CLV) that joined Prysmian’ s fleet earlier this year, Monna Lisa, has begun installing its first submarine cable at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project site in the U.S., where Dominion Energy is building the country’s largest offshore wind farm.
Dominion Energy selected the consortium of DEME Group and Prysmian as the Balance of Plant (BoP) contractors back in 2021, with the contract covering the transportation and installation of the foundations and the substations, and the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) services for the inter-array and export cables for the project.
DEME started the export cable installation in September 2024 and installed the first of the project’s three offshore substations in March 2025.
The CLV Monna Lisa joined Prysmian’s fleet in February this year and was loaded with the submarine cable for CVOW at the Arco Felice plant in Italy in April.
The 171-meter vessel was built by Vard in Tulcea, Romania, and underwent final outfitting and trials at Vard’s shipyard in Søvik, Norway.
The 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind will feature 176 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW turbines , which will generate enough renewable energy to power up to 660,000 homes, according to the developer.
In February 2025 , Dominion Energy said that the wind farm was approximately 50% complete and remained on track for on-time completion at the end of 2026.