Vol. 43
Dec 2023
How Dominion Energy is Creating a $9.8 Billion Road Map for Offshore Wind
At the end of October, Danish wind giant Ørsted announced that it is canceling its pair of big offshore projects in New Jersey — marking the latest in a series of setbacks for the U.S. industry. That same day, Virginia utility Dominion Energy gained final approval for its $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia project, the largest wind farm planned for U.S. waters. Those developments highlight the contradictory position for offshore wind in the U.S.
Onshore Work Begins for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project
Work is now underway to lay down the path that the energy being produced from Dominion's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will travel. During a Virginia Beach City Council briefing, Dominion gave city leaders an update on how long the onshore construction for the project will take. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2026.
Editorial: Virginia Offshore Wind Project Proceeds Despite Industry Setbacks
Prospects of Hampton Roads becoming a — maybe THE — leading East Coast center for offshore wind energy development looked brighter than ever. Offshore wind should play a major role in the nation’s transition to more sustainable and more environmentally friendly energy. Hampton Roads, with its strategic location, deep-water channels, good ports that are becoming even better and skilled maritime workforce has much to offer and can play a leading role in that emerging industry.
After Siemens Turbine Plant Cancellation, Can Hampton Roads Still be a Hub for Offshore Wind?
The loss of the turbine manufacturing facility, with its associated jobs and tax revenue, is a blow to Hampton Roads, one that has raised questions about whether the region’s dreams of becoming an offshore wind hub can be realized. But Dominion, local officials and environmental and economic development groups aren’t giving up hope: They say the ongoing work on CVOW, the region’s maritime infrastructure and workforce and burgeoning nationwide calls for a more renewables-focused grid keep them optimistic that Hampton Roads can still be an East Coast hub of the industry.
New Study Uses Electronic Tags to Explore Relationship Between Fish Behavior and Offshore Wind Energy Construction
A new cooperative agreement between The Nature Conservancy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will enable scientists to implement a first-of-its-kind study investigating fish behavior in response to offshore wind turbine installation and related construction activities. This study will use fine-scale positioning technology and be conducted at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind research site, located approximately 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Offshore Wind Could Supply up to 20% of the US Atlantic Coast Energy Needs – Study
As much as 20% of regional power needs along the US Atlantic coast could be served by offshore wind farms by 2050, according to research by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Offshore Wind Leases Can and Should Bring Revenue to States 
To help fulfill the promise of the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States, policymakers should create a welcoming environment that establishes market certainty and supports domestic manufacturing. They can do that by backing policies such as the Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act, which was introduced in the House by Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) with bipartisan support, and in the Senate by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
WINDSday Newsletter
Check out the WINDSday newsletter celebrating the power of wind, clean energy and a green environment in Virginia Beach and all of Hampton Roads.
Virginia Offshore Wind Supplier Development Grant
The Virginia Offshore Wind Supplier Development Grant (VOWSD) encourages existing Virginia companies to enter the offshore wind supply chain. The program targets existing manufacturers or manufacturing-adjacent companies who have operated in Virginia for at least one year and have under 250 full-time employees.
Visit VEDP's website to learn more about the grant, including eligibility and requirements.
Member Profile
​Wind Power - Arketa Howard’s Driving Force
By Paula Miller

As the burgeoning Offshore Wind (OSW) industry grows its coastal footprint, Arketa Howard is certain women will continue to have an active and increasingly influential role in the future of sustainable, clean energy.

It’s one reason she became a founding member of Women of Offshore Wind (WOW). The organization, Howard believes, “will be responsible for increasing professional opportunities for women in offshore wind and the trades, provide the space for women to network and learn information critical to their advancement in the industry, educate and connect individuals and businesses to OSW, and ensure communities of color and disadvantaged communities are connected to the opportunities it brings.”

Howard is unabashedly honest about her roots. English is her second language. Born overseas, her mother (Filipino) and father (African American and fluent in Tagalog) arrived in the U.S. for his first military assignment at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington before she was school age. Her parents hardly spoke English at home, so she learned English the hard way - the result of teasing, she says, by other children at school.

Howard grew up in Norfolk and is doggedly proud to “Behold the Green and Gold” of her alma mater, Norfolk State University, where she majored in Math and Computer Science.  Her mother encouraged computer science studies, but Howard says from the age of six, she had an interest in public policy, an interest that has served her well in her current position as Director for Business and Policy Affairs for Crowley Wind Services.  “I support our work by implementing strategies to engage and collaborate with key stakeholders at the local and state levels including government, education, NGO’s, non-profits, community groups, industry/trade associations, and industry as a whole,” said Howard.

Offshore wind success, she insists, relies heavily on the people and businesses within an immediate 60-mile radius of a wind lease and across each of those states. “My priority is to build an engaging presence in areas where we have a terminal interest and my travel brings me to each of these locations to ensure we are meeting our social and corporate responsibilities,” Howard added.

Ask about her busy travel schedule, and she will tell you she loves to be on the go with family and friends, for NSU Athletics, and Offshore Wind. Whether it is practices or games, she is also her son and daughter’s biggest sports fan, doesn’t miss an opportunity to support NSU Spartans basketball, football and volleyball, and she still musters enough energy to run marathons. But her favorite pastime is one rarely ever mentioned by people who are profiled. She loves to tend to her grass. “I’m serious about my grass,” she admits.

There is something else Howard is quite serious about and that is a profession she gratefully states, “never feels like work and is the result of my life’s work.”
For their final event of 2023, WOW enjoyed a festive gathering at Dominion Energy's Garden of Lights at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.