Dominion Partners To Build Nation's First Offshore Wind Turbine Blade Facility

VIRGINIA — Dominion Energy is partnering with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy to build the nation’s first offshore wind turbine blade factory in the Hampton Roads area near where Dominion is building an offshore wind facility.

The $200 million factory at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal will produce turbine blades for Dominion's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, as well as other offshore wind energy generators around North America.

The facility, combined with its operations and maintenance activities, will create a total of 310 new jobs, of which about 50 will be service jobs to support the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement Monday.

Dominion previously selected Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, a Spanish company, as its partner for its $7.8 billion energy generation project 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

“The U.S. offshore market is a critical part of our overall global strategy, with our presence in Virginia playing a crucial and central role,” Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit CEO Marc Becker said in a statement.

The announcement comes two months after Northam announced that Dominion had agreed to lease 72 acres of the deep-water Portsmouth Marine Terminal as a staging and pre-assembly area for the foundations and turbines. Once fully constructed in 2026, Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will generate enough energy to power 660,000 homes and avoid as much as 5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the company said.

SEE ALSO: Dominion Signs Terminal Lease For Offshore Wind Energy Project

“Virginians want renewable energy, our employers want it, and Virginia is delivering it,” Northam said. “Make no mistake: Virginia is building a new industry in renewable energy, with more new jobs to follow, and that’s good news for our country.”

The Siemens Gamesa offshore wind blade facility represents another step to develop the Portsmouth Marine Terminal into an offshore wind hub, the company said. Siemens Gamesa will look to potentially expand the facility if awarded future projects in the region, it added.

“Virginia is leading the way in offshore wind and using blades from this new facility in Hampton Roads on our Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is a major win for the region,” Robert Blue, chairman, president and CEO of Dominion, said in a statement. “It is great to see well-paying, clean energy jobs are on the horizon as an offshore wind supply chain develops here in Virginia.”

A two-turbine wind energy pilot project is currently operating off Virginia Beach. Federal regulators announced the beginning of a review process for the project over the summer.

The Virginia Clean Economy Act sets a target for Dominion to build or purchase at least 5,200 megawatts of energy through offshore wind by 2034 and to achieve 100-percent carbon-free energy production by 2045.

“This partnership will further cement the commonwealth as the premiere offshore wind hub for the eastern United States," U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said in a statement. "I’ll keep pushing to get the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better bill — two transformative, complimentary, and essential pieces of legislation — across the finish line to ensure Virginia has the resources it needs to power homes and businesses in need and continue to lead the nation in clean energy for years to come.”

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