It's WINDSday | July 10, 2024

Celebrating the Power of Wind, Clean Energy and a Green Environment

With electricity demand in Virginia expected to double in the next 13 years, Dominion Energy is going to sea for more renewable energy.

On Monday the utility announced it is buying the northern third of Avangrid’s Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind project, adding the potential for another 800 megawatts of electricity to its transmission grid. To be called CVOW South (located 25 miles from the 2.6 gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind development), Dominion, if CVOW South is constructed, could generate up to 3,400 megawatts of non-carbon energy from both windfarms, enough to power over 860,000 homes. 

The purchase, contingent upon regulatory approvals, “allows us to leverage the unique expertise we've gained during the very successful development and construction to date of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project, which reduces project risk to the benefit of customers and shareholders,” says Bob Blue, Dominion Chair, President and CEO. “The Virginia model for regulated offshore wind development is proving to be an enabler of on-time and on-budget wind generation at exceptional relative value for our customers.”

Unclear is where Dominion would bring power ashore, given that Avangrid’s plan to do so through Sandbridge, still awaits an okay from Virginia Beach City Council. But Dominion, which hopes to close on the $160-million transaction before the end of 2024, has time to explore that and other options because the company says no construction would begin off Kitty Hawk until 2030, four years after CVOW is fully online.

Meanwhile work on CVOW continues with 26 monopiles now in the seabed and 150 more to come. 

When overseas cargo arrived in sacks, barrels, and crates, Norfolk & Western's (now Norfolk Southern's) Lamberts Point piers and warehouses were hopping. However, Malcolm McLean's invention of shipping containers 70 years ago was the beginning of the end for most breakbulk terminals. You can see the wear and tear of neglect everywhere, but today, the sights and sounds of renewal are apparent, thanks to offshore wind and strategic government and private sector infrastructure investments. 

A year since the groundbreaking, workers have been driving piles and clearing dirt for a sophisticated 30,000-plus-square-foot control center from which Dominion Energy will manage its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is 27-40 miles off the coast. "They are also renting 750 feet of pier space for crew transport and maintenance vessels that will service the windfarm," says Jerry Miller, whose company has a 50-year agreement with Norfolk Southern to lease the 111-acre property, rebranded as Fairwinds Landing. Meanwhile, many of the 53 different vessels required to build the wind farm are routinely docking at Fairwinds for resupply and minor repairs. "It is truly one of the best industrial sites on the eastern seaboard. It just needed a facelift."

And it's getting that facelift. State and federal grants have allowed Miller to take down old structures and enhance the strength of some pier sections to handle heavy loads. Newport News Shipbuilding, in need of space, took notice and signed a long-term lease, shifting some steel structure manufacturing for at least two nuclear aircraft carriers, the Enterprise and Dorey Miller, to what they call their "Norfolk Campus." Miller, a Naval Academy grad, says, "some of the Yard's happiest employees live on the Southside and now can come here every day instead of driving through the tunnel, plus we have parking on site."

Jerry's team is busy showcasing Fairwinds Landing to other potential tenants.

"We are talking to manufacturers but also to prospects in ship repair and other industries," says Fred Pasquine, President of Fairlead, a company owned by Miller that provides various repair and manufacturing services to support the US Navy.

Another Miller Group company is Balicore Construction, which is building the CVOW Control Center. "Fairwinds Landing may be one of the biggest things happening in Hampton Roads right now," says Fred.

You might not know it, though, because the large pie-shaped parcel that is Fairwinds Landing is hidden behind fences and gates. But directly across the Elizabeth River is the enhanced Portsmouth Marine Terminal, brimming with monopiles, transition pieces, and other equipment bound for CVOW. "Over the next few years," says Miller, "you will see a dramatic change here with upgraded roads, bulkheads, new buildings, and more people servicing offshore wind, the Navy, and others who need deep water access."

It's WINDSday will keep you posted on progress. 

Stacey Baker and Allen Hudson of The Coffee Shoppe in Portsmouth

When Charles Greenhood, the legendary owner of Brutti’s restaurant on Court Street in downtown Portsmouth, died in 2022, it left a gaping hole in the heart of Stacey Baker, his chef, manager, and all-around right-hand woman. "I loved that man and miss him."

Fortunately, Stacey has a new place of work that mimics the friendly atmosphere that made Brutti's (where she cooked their prized corned beef and brisket, among other "deli”cacies) so popular.

It's The Coffee Shoppe, a couple blocks away on High Street across from the Children's Museum, where truly "everybody knows your name" and loves front-end manager and Portsmouth native Allen Hudson.

"I live here," says the fast-working and talking barista, who also serves as front for a band that performed at Harborfest and will do so at the Norva on August 24.

Lamar and Tiffany Linton own The Coffee Shoppe, which is routinely busy. "I come in every day before driving to work in Virginia Beach," says Olde Towne neighbor Dana Harris, always ordering an everything bagel and whatever coffee Allen recommends. "Many customers let me make what I call a 'Trust Me Latte’," says Hudson.

It’s Stacey, who lives a block away and a few more miles from her high school alma mater, Churchland, who grills the hot food. The menu is not as extensive as it was at Brutti’s, but Stacey is happy to still be downtown and with friends, new and old.

“We’re like a big family.” Join it any day (including Sunday), and don’t be afraid to speak up. Like Cheers, you could be the next Norm. 

Kudos to WINDSday Partner Hope Sinclair, executive director of Portsmouth-based Communities in Schools Hampton Roads (CIS), a nonprofit organization that brings mentoring programs, academic support initiatives, and more to underserved areas of the region.

CIS is now in 30 schools in the area, nine in Portsmouth, including Norcom High.

Go to https://www.communitiesinschools.org and show them some love and money. Great kids don't grow on trees.

On Your Six Honors Heroes Among Us

Mike Nicosia, a native of Nevada, was a Navy Seal for 20 years. When he was done being a warrior and then living in VA Beach, Mike and six friends, including a pair of Seals, contemplated a joint entrepreneurial future.

"We decided to create our own bourbon," says Mike, and named it "On Your Six," a term aviators know. "It means looking behind you to keep everyone else safe, too.”

But these bourbon buddies thought well beyond their contributions to the greater good. "We wanted to honor teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, and others who have our collective backs." As for the whiskey? "We went to a bottler in Kentucky to develop the blend.” On Your Six has a “nose” that is “rich with almond and dried fruits, hints of tobacco and vanilla spice.”

The hard part says Mike is getting shelf space in ABC stores. While he and the gang build a following, you can buy 750 milliliters at www.shoponyoursix.com.

You can also read some hero stories there and submit your own. How does “On Your Six” taste? Like the site says, “Full-bodied and rich with nougat and faint citrus notes.” 

Drink responsibly.

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