By the end of 2025, Sarens had already completed the transport of all monopiles, templates and pin piles, on schedule, carrying out approximately 740 transport operations using SPMTs and 382 lifts using a CC8800 crawler crane.
As part of this project, significant restrictions on transport operations between October 31 and May 1 of each year had to be taken into account due to the need to comply with regulations regarding whale migration in the area.
When this project becomes operational in late 2026, it will be capable of supplying more than 660,000 households—up to 900,000 during peak demand periods—and reducing carbon emissions equivalent to taking more than one million cars off the road each year.
The logistics and transportation tasks for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project are nearing completion. Sarens, world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport, and crane rental services, has played a strategic role in this project through its heavy lifting work since it began operations in 2023 at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT), and by early April 2026 all operations were completed on schedule.
In this project, Sarens has been responsible for handling and preparing the key structural components that make up the wind farm’s infrastructure. Thus, it has carried out the load-in and load-out of the wind farm’s 176 monopiles and 176 transition pieces using its SPMTs (Self-Propelled Modular Transporters), alongside the handling of pin piles, templates, and the topsides of three offshore substations, each weighing approximately 4,000 tons.
To streamline logistics, Sarens’ engineering team developed a support system for the monopiles designed to optimize space in the port and thereby meet strict ground pressure requirements. This advancement made it possible to access any of the monopiles at any time, providing a level of operational flexibility that traditional storage methods could not achieve, and thus enabling the project to stay ahead of the schedule proposed by Dominion Energy.
One of the main challenges faced by the Sarens team stationed at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal was the need to strictly comply with the environmental restrictions imposed on offshore operations. Due to local regulations designed to protect whale migration, any installation work on the wind farms monopiles had to be suspended between October 31 and May 1 of each year. Therefore, thanks to coordination between the teams onshore and those deployed offshore, it was possible to complete all installations one month ahead of the critical deadline, enabling the project to continue uninterrupted and keeping the overall project schedule on track at all times. Despite these limitations, the Sarens team has so far successfully completed more than 740 transports using its SPMTs, in addition to 382 heavy lifts using high-capacity cranes such as the CC8800 crawler crane.
According to Andrew Hefft, Sarens’ Project Manager for this project, “We are honored to participate in a project as demanding yet socially significant as this offshore wind farm. We appreciate the trust placed in our team and the technology we have employed on this project by Virginia International Terminals, and we look forward to the opportunity to continue collaborating together for many years to come.”
The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is the first utility-owned offshore wind farm in federal waters in the United States. Its construction required the employment of more than 2,000 people, and its operation and maintenance will require more than 1,100 permanent, highly skilled positions. Once operational, it will help supply clean energy to more than 660,000 households, although it is estimated that during peak output periods this figure could rise to more than 900,000 households, and it will prevent the emission of 5 million tons of CO2 per year—equivalent to taking one million cars off the road. Furthermore, it will be a key component in helping Virginia meet its clean energy law and in helping the U.S. move closer to its national goal of generating at least 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030.
Sarens has extensive international experience in the assembly and maintenance of wind farms. It has participated in various installations in France such as Fécamp, Saint Nazaire, Provence Grand Large and in the lifting and transport work for the foundation bases of the new offshore wind farm in Saint Brieuc, located off the Brittany coast. During this project, Sarens successfully transported loads weighing over 1150 tons. More recently, Sarens has been actively involved in the marshalling and installation of 62 monopiles in the Moray West offshore wind farm, each weighing up to 2000 tons, the largest and heaviest XXL monopiles ever to be handled in the UK.
About Sarens
Sarens is the global leader and reference in crane rental, heavy lift and engineered transportation services. With state-of-the-art equipment, value engineering, one of the world's largest inventories of cranes, transporters and special rigging equipment, Sarens offers creative and intelligent solutions to today's heavy lifting and engineering transport challenges.
With more than 100 entities in 65 countries operating without borders, Sarens is an ideal partner for small to large-scale projects. Sarens currently employs 5,000 highly qualified professionals who are ready to serve the needs of any client worldwide and in all market sectors. https://www.sarens.com/