• HOME
• ABOUT
  • Leadership
  • Organization
  • History
• NEWS
• STRATEGY
• STAY CONNECTED
• RESOURCES

Virginia

Updated July 2010

Contacts:

George Hagerman (Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute, Director of Research for the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium): hagerman@vt.edu

Virginia Offshore Wind (VOW) Coalition: info@vowcoalition.org

Overview of Status:

Recent legislation established the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority and a tax credit for green jobs creation. Governor Robert McDonnell has ambitions to make Virginia the "Energy Capital of the East Coast" by supporting offshore energy production, both renewable and oil and gas. Hampton Roads has an extremely large and active port facility which would facilitate wind development off the coast.

Proposed Projects:

Two Virgina firms (Apex Wind Energy Inc. and Seawind Renewable Energy Corp.) submitted proposals for offshore wind farms approximately 12 miles off the Virginia coast. For the full Associated Press article, please click here.

Policy and Regulation:

The Virginia General Assembly formed the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. The authority's stated objectives include:

"(i) identifying existing state and regulatory or administrative barriers to the development of the offshore wind industry, (ii) collecting metocean and environmental data, (iii) upgrading port facilities to accommodate the manufacturing and assembly of project components and vessels that will support such projects, and (iv) applying to the U.S. Department of Energy for loan guarantees for such projects."

For a PDF of the formal acts of assembly click here.

In 2007, Virginia established the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium VCERC, through passage of the VA Energy Plan, "to serve as an interdisciplinary study, research and information resource for the Commonwealth on coastal energy issues."  The Board of Directors has 8 university members and 6 government and industry partners. Offshore wind development will play an important role in allowing the state to outline the objectives of its energy plan.

The VCERC received approximately $1.4 million in state funding to carry out three research projects relating to offshore wind:

"VCERC Project 1: Feasibility-Level Design and Economic Assessment for a Reference
Baseline Offshore Wind Power Project (VT-ARI responsible for overall direction and
integrated report preparation)
VCERC Project 2: Preliminary Mapping of Offshore Areas Suitable for Offshore Wind
Development, with Identification of Excluded Areas to Avoid Potential Conflicts, and
Mapping of Offshore Benthic, Pelagic and Avian Habitats (JMU responsible for overall
direction and integrated GIS tool preparation, with support from VIMS)
VCERC Project 3: Evaluation of Economic Development impact of Commercial
Offshore Wind Power Development and Associated Workforce Training and Preliminary
Planning for an Ocean Test Bed (SAIC and Paliria Energy, Inc., responsible for overall
direction and integrated report preparation, with support from NSU)."

The results of this research were published in the Virginia Offshore Wind Studies Final Report

In 2009 Virginia also participated in the South-Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure Development Compact (along with Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina). The purpose of this compact is to "study, develop, and promote coordinated research and planning of the design, construction, utility interconnection, financing, and operation of offshore wind energy infrastructure and operations directly adjacent to the shores of the party states."

Virginia legislated a "green jobs tax credit" in April 2010 that provides a $500 income tax credit for each new green job that pays a salary of at least $50,000. The tax credit is capped at $175,000.

In 2007, Virginia legislated a voluntary renewable energy portfolio goal of 15% renewable energy by 2025. Offshore wind energy would receive triple credits toward this goal.

Studies, Research and Development:

Despite intensive U.S. Naval activities in Virginia waters (Norfolk Naval Station is the world's largest naval base), a Department of Defense assessment determined that 18 of the 25 proposed tracts for offshore wind development would not interfere with naval uses. The full news article text is available here.

In June 2010 it was announced that Virginia would host a new regional renewable energy office to support the initiatives of the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium, of which Virginia is a member.

The Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition was formed in 2010 with the stated mission of "giv[ing] stakeholders such as developers, supply chain businesses, service industries, government entities, organizations and individuals interested in the development and promotion of the offshore wind industry in Virginia a united voice and a vehicle to create an atmosphere in which progress for this clean, renewable energy can progress rapidly in the Commonwealth."

In the summer of 2009 Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms Jr. formed a Mayor's Alternative Energy Task Force .

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC) conducted a port study from the perspective of future offshore wind energy development in Virginia, entitled Hampton Roads Maritime and Ports Capacity Report. This report provides "profiles of ports, shipyards, manufacturers, waterfront land availability, and fishing activities."

George Hagerman (VCERC and Virginia Tech) delivered a presentation titled Offshore Wind Development Potential and Possible Timetables on Virginia's OCS.