CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) reaffirmed his support for Virginia’s offshore wind industry Tuesday, even after the defacto leader of his party criticized the industry weeks earlier.
When announcing that LC Greenlink, a South Korea based company manufacturing offshore wind transmission cables, would be located in Chesapeake, Youngkin thanked company leaders for helping Hampton Roads to start growing “into the leading advance manufacturing supply chain for the offshore wind industry.”
When former President Donald Trump was in Chesapeake last month as part of his campaign, he took aim at the Biden administrations approval of offshore wind and the subsidies to incentivize them.
“[Biden’s] given massive subsidies to windmills all over the country that are ruining our beautiful plains, our beautiful land, our beautiful oceans,” Trump said during his speech at Historic Greenbrier Farms.
Youngkin was only several feet away from Trump when he made those remarks. It was the first time Youngkin had ever attended a Trump rally as governor.
In an interview with NBC 12 in Richmond following his remarks, Trump indicated that Youngkin is considered a potential vice president pick.
However, Youngkin, who spent his previous three years in political life distancing himself from the former president, wasn’t bashful when communicating the two may continue to be distant on the topic of offshore wind.
“So let me just be clear,” Youngkin said in a response to a reporter question. “We have adopted in Virginia an all American, all of the above energy policy, which includes natural gas, clean coal, carbon capture, hydrogen, advanced nuclear, solar and wind. We need it all.”
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded LS Greenlink nearly $100 million in tax credits in April to build the factory. Youngkin is dedicating $13.2 million to the project in the from of a performance based grant.
Youngkin also voiced support for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The public utilities’ $9.8 billion effort, the largest offshore wind farm under construction in the United States, is currently under construction.
In total, 176 turbines will be installed into the ocean floor 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, with enough energy to power up to 660,000 homes.
The project hasn’t been without controversy, with lawsuits filed over environmental concerns.
Youngkin and Dominion have found themselves at odds in the past. But in this case, Youngkin is championing Dominion’s resilience.
“Most [other offshore wind projects] have had to be canceled because they they fell under their own economic weight,” Youngkin said. “This project is on time, on budget. We watch it closely. We work with the Dominion folks closely to make sure it stays like that. And I believe that based on the progress they’ve made to date, this will be a successful project.”