Could a wind turbine pose any sort of national security risk? This is just getting to the heart of an unprecedented Trump administration action that has put the brakes on five large-scale offshore wind projects along the East Coast of the US, including the $10.9 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project being pursued by Dominion Energy. The Interior Department, relying on data from the Pentagon, states that this pause is required so that the potential for radar interference caused by the massive blades and highly reflective structures of these wind turbines can be evaluated. This has sent shockwaves throughout the industry, causing Dominion’s shares to fall more than 5% and Ørsted’s to tumble more than 11%.
The CVOW project is not just any other project. For starters, it has been built with 176 turbines that would produce a total of 2.6 gigawatts of energy, which would in turn power more than 600,000 households. The fact that the state of Virginia has the largest world concentration of data centers, especially in Northern Virginia, where there is heavy demand for power in the form of artificial intelligence processes, explains why Dominion has noted, “stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability for some of the nation’s most important war fighting, AI, and civilian assets.”
“Clutter” on the Pentagon’s worry list is related to how the returning echoes from wind turbines can interfere with radar echoes. Offshore wind turbines can reach heights of hundreds of feet, with blades extending over 300 feet. According to a 2024 technical study, although improving detection thresholds can alleviate clutter problems, an increased possibility of a genuine target being overlooked may result. This is especially problematic near heavily populated regions of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
There are engineering solutions that can solve these interference problems, Jenkins said. Adaptive radar processing, terrain mapping, and strategic turbine location are employed in Europe to keep situational awareness intact in the vicinity of offshore wind projects. In addition, some proposals combine secondary radar sensors, such as passive radar arrays, to overcome dead zones. However, according to U.S. developers, each of these projects has had several years of review by various governmental agencies such as the Coast Guard, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and U.S. Air Force. Captain Kirk Lippold, ex-USS Cole commander, believes that “will actually benefit our national security by diversifying America’s energy supplies, providing much-needed reliable power for the grid, and helping our economy.”
This kind of capacity freeze hurts ratepayers by adding higher costs to their bills and by delaying needed maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure. This begs the question: What kind of maintenance can Dominion perform on its infrastructure when it’s not able to move forward on new projects? This kind of capacity freeze hurts ratepayers by adding higher costs to their bills and by delaying needed maintenance and repair of existing infrastructure. This begs the question: What kind of maintenance can Dominion perform on its infrastructure when it’s not able to move forward on new projects? The capacity freeze occurs at a critical point in grid development in Virginia. Artificial intelligence-driven demands are pressing on capacity and have pushed Dominion Power to apply last year for a “peaker” plant deemed necessary to serve those demands. Ultimately, Dominion would like to construct a gas-fired facility with 944 megaw
From an investment perspective, the lack of a time limit means that the cost risks are substantial. This is because offshore wind projects take a long time, requiring specialized ships, high voltage subsea cables, as well as turbine parts that arrive months prior to the construction process. This can result in contractual costs, idle skilled workforce, and manufacturing shutdowns. Ørsted has already raised $9.4 billion this year due to political uncertainties, including those faced by Equinor and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Grid managers are also raising the alarm. ISO New England has relied on the power from Vineyard Wind during the current winter, warning that previous suspensions of Revolution Wind increased reliability challenges. In the PJM Interconnection region, which includes Virginia, the loss of CVOW’s planned capacity could exacerbate peak demand challenges and increase reliance on volatile spot market purchases. Dominion emphasizes that CVOW’s electrons are intended to power data centers “that will win the AI race, support our war fighters, and build the nuclear warships needed to maintain our maritime supremacy.”
The Interior Department frames the pause as an opportunity to “work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.” Whether that means retrofitting radar systems, altering turbine layouts, or deploying supplemental surveillance infrastructure remains unclear. For energy professionals and policy analysts, the outcome will hinge on balancing operational security with the engineering realities of modern offshore wind and on whether the political climate allows these projects to deliver the electrons Virginia’s grid so urgently needs.
