CEAC-2020-08-August

News
Virginia Moves a Step Closer to
Harnessing Offshore Wind By Ben Finley | Associated Press
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s governor recently ceremonially
signed legislation that sets a path for the eventual
approval of two large-scale offshore wind farms that could
produce enough electricity to power more than a million
homes in the state.
The two proposed projects would be located off the coasts
of Virginia and North Carolina. They’re part of a projected
boom in the nation’s nascent offshore wind industry, which is
being driven by plummeting construction costs and surging
demand for renewable energy.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also touted the state as a likely
hub for the industry on the Atlantic coast, citing a workforce
and an infrastructure that already support a port and several
shipyards.
Northam said the nation’s offshore wind industry could
create 14,000 jobs in the state, ranging from people who
assemble the turbines to those who ferry them out to sea.
“(W)e are building a new industry that will bring thousands
of clean energy jobs to our commonwealth and grow our
economy — all while protecting our environment,” the Democratic
governor said.
The turbines’ massive blades hung above the calm waters of
the Atlantic. Standing higher than the Washington Monument,
they competed in scale with the loaded cargo vessels
that passed nearby.
Only one offshore wind farm currently operates in the United
States, and it’s in the state-controlled waters off Rhode
Island. But experts say the industry’s future is in the nation’s
federally controlled waters, which typically begin three miles
from shore.
Such areas are further out of sight of tourists and out of the
way of fishing operations, ports and U.S. Navy bases.
“We have 16 leases from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras,” said
Jim Bennett, program manager for the federal Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management’s renewable energy program.
“We’re looking at a dozen projects on the East Coast over
the next 10 years.”
Among other things, the legislation that Northam signed
Northam held a signing ceremony in Virginia Beach for
offshore-related bills that he originally signed in April. He
then toured the first two wind turbines ever erected in U.S.
federal waters.
Built 27 miles (about 44 kilometers) off the coast, the
soon-to-be-operational turbines are a pilot project. But
they’re viewed as a harbinger for hundreds of turbines that
are expected to sprout along the Atlantic seaboard, from
North Carolina to Massachusetts.
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