Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu were in Norfolk yesterday to make a major funding announcement for offshore wind energy. The two agencies have allocated $50 million toward research and development to jumpstart the offshore wind industry in the United States.
It is important to note the significance of having the announcement in Virginia. The Commonwealth, like other states, will be competing for these federal dollars, which will go to new turbine designs, finding cost efficiencies and other research. Many other states have been trumpeting their intentions for offshore wind farm development for months, whereas Virginia has remained relatively quiet. With a conservative Governor that’s worried about rate increases, it has been up to the industry to promote itself in Virginia. You won’t see McDonnell getting on a national platform to declare a renewable energy goal or a power purchase agreement. However, with quiet support from the State, thorough research has been done, an industry group created, and now a new Authority of the State established.
The end result is that while other states have been trumpeting goals, Virginia has quietly laid the groundwork for the success of offshore wind energy in the Commonwealth. And it’s gotten attention at the national level.
The Department of Interior will have a call for interest coming out soon for a significant chunk of territory on the Outer Continental Shelf about 20 miles off the Virginia coast. Developers will get to compete for the opportunity to build a wind farm. Meanwhile, Virginia’s ports and maritime community stand at the ready to build a new industry. No other state has the assets that Virginia has to be able to handle manufacturing of the size and scope required for turbines, blades, towers, etc. All the other ports on the East Coast are basically built out, where Hampton Roads has more than enough room to grow, and no height obstructions. If offshore wind energy is like other industries, its manufacturing, logistics and supply chain will coalesce around one region in the country. It’s an opportunity that could be Virginia’s for the having and it means thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of economic investment.
The fact that the DOI and DOE are working together is a recent development. As important as the offshore wind industry was to President Obama, his agencies weren’t talking to each other. Now DOI and DOE are working together with the Department of Defense to expedite the process and get this industry moving. In just over a year, an amazing amount has been accomplished, and now Virginia may have a project identified by the end of the year.
To all those out there who are nay-sayers about offshore wind energy, I say just sit back and watch. This is THE next big thing.
