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(Reuters) – The chief executive of NextEra Energy said on Monday that his company felt good about Dominion’s investment in offshore wind, a technology he has disparaged in the past.
CEO John Ketchum made the remarks on a call with investors to discuss NextEra’s $66.8 billion bid for Dominion, which is building a more than $11 billion offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia.
“As we look at it, we feel very good about it,” Ketchum said, noting that the facility is already sending power to the grid and recently reduced its projected cost by $100 million to $11.4 billion.
NextEra is the world’s largest renewable energy generator but has conspicuously steered clear of offshore wind, largely due to its high cost.
In remarks in 2023, Ketchum said offshore wind was too costly and complicated due to risks from salt water corrosion, the threat of hurricanes, the need for specialized ships and the tricky installation of subsea transmission cables.
Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will be the largest U.S. offshore wind project when it is completed next year. It has experienced more than $1 billion in cost overruns and late last year was ordered to stop construction under a broad Trump administration pause on the industry.
A federal judge lifted the stop-work order in January.
“We feel like the project is online, and given the investment that’s been made there, it’s the right thing to do to finish it,” Ketchum said.
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