The wind energy project taking shape off Virginia’s coast may be more than a game-changer for how the commonwealth generates electricity. If projections are accurate, it might also mean an employment boom for the region.
Building, operating and maintaining wind turbines is incredibly technical work requiring highly skilled workers. Many are also high-paying jobs that can be lucrative careers for the men and women who fill them.
As Hampton Roads looks to expand its employment base beyond its three traditional sectors — defense, tourism and the Port of Virginia — the expansion of wind energy, along with other green-energy projects, could be just what the region needs to grow the regional economy.
Climate change presents an array of serious challenges to the future viability of the region. Encroaching water caused by rising seas will cause more frequent flooding, putting homes, businesses and critical infrastructure at risk. Resilience must drive many of the choices made by the public and private sectors.
Amid those challenges, however, is opportunity. A greater emphasis on coastal protection and environmental stewardship will mean large-scale construction projects and public spending. And a growing emphasis on green energy development will mean employment in a host of areas.
Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is a perfect example.
The two 6-megawatt offshore wind turbines located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach represent the beginning of a wind farm that the company says will grow to include about 200 turbines producing 2.6 gigawatts of energy, enough to power about 660,000 homes.
A 2020 study paid for by the Hampton Roads Alliance predicts that project could ultimately support about 5,200 jobs and $270 million in pay and benefits. The report estimates $740 million in economic output once the project is complete.
That would be a huge, pardon the pun, windfall for the region. But the report notes that realizing those benefits is contingent on Hampton Roads serving as a hub for the supply chain and being integral to the production of these enormous machines. Think turbine blade manufacturing and the construction of offshore substations.
But it’s more than that. Virginian-Pilot reporting in July about area universities, community colleges and trade schools emphasizing these new employment opportunities points out that each turbine will need electricians, welders, climbers, maritime workers and even elevator technicians to operate.
Hampton Roads schools are already training students for these jobs. It helps that the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in 2019 that the average annual wage for wind turbine service technicians is $56,700. Other skills may earn more lucrative paychecks, especially with workers in high demand these days.
[I]f Hampton Roads can build that sector of the economy and become a hub for wind turbine construction and green energy jobs, the future looks very bright indeed. Demand for this machinery will only increase as more wind projects win approval, and the region could well be known for this work as much as shipbuilding or our beaches.
At least one major company is considering a $200 million turbine blade manufacturing facility in Hampton Roads, what could be the first of many employers who view the region as ideally situated for the coming green energy boom.
Climate change will force some difficult choices on our communities. There’s no denying that now. But the region can do its part to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels while also expanding our employment base and economy if we can establish this as the place for wind energy manufacturing.
What is a crisis could well be an opportunity, and that would change the landscape of Coastal Virginia in more ways than one.
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