Wind Power

Fugro to expand its offshore wind expertise center on Virginia coast

Fugro to expand its offshore wind expertise center on Virginia coast
FILE - Two of the offshore wind turbines which have been constructed off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va. are seen on Monday, June 29, 2020. As Virginia-based Dominion Energy seeks to build what it calls the country’s largest offshore wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean, the company and its supporters have touted the economic development opportunities expected to accompany the 176-turbine project. But state regulators say the economic picture might not be so rosy. In testimony filed earlier this month, regulators said the company relied on a “stale” economic study that didn’t account for the impact of its Virginia ratepayers bearing the cost of the approximately $10 billion project. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

As offshore wind projects continue to grow on the East Coast, geo data company Fugro will expand its Americas Center of Expertise for Offshore Wind in Norfolk, Virginia. The expansion will create 15 more jobs in Virginia, where Fugro provides information such as seafloor and environmental conditions for the planning, design, construction, and operation of offshore wind developments.

The Virginia coast is home to Dominion’s $10B, 2.6 GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is expected to power as many as 660,000 homes once completed. Dominion estimates construction will be fully complete by 2026, but a 12 MW pilot project began operations in 2020 using two of the planned 178 turbines.

Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, is currently developing its own project off the coast of North Carolina: the Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind project. The wind farm, which is expected to begin construction in 2024, could have up to 2.5 GW generation capacity once fully constructed.

Fugro is headquartered in the Netherlands, but has a U.S. headquarters in Houston, Texas.

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