Northrop-Gamesa partnership a 'tremendous vision'

CHESAPEAKE — For nearly two months, a cadre of shipbuilders from Northrop Grumman's Newport News shipyard have been working in unfamiliar territory on an unfamiliar product.

In an office park in Chesapeake, about 20 shipyard engineers are working alongside a group of Spaniards to design and develop a prototype offshore wind turbine that could be installed off the Virginia coast by the end of next year.

"It really is a tremendous vision," Gov. Bob McDonnell told a group of more than 100 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Gamesa Technology Corp.'s North American Offshore Wind Technology Center. "It holds tremendous potential for jobs and for economic development here in the future."

Britt Theismann, the chief operating officer for the American Wind Energy Association, called the official opening of the center "the beginning of something huge."

Madrid-based Gamesa, a wind turbine manufacturer that set up its U.S. operations in 2005, chose the Newport News shipbuilder to help develop its first offshore wind turbines because of the company's experience designing and building warships that operate in marine environments for decades.

"We know how to design turbines, they know the harsh marine environment," said Dirk Matthys, chairman and CEO of Gamesa North America. "Putting us together in an integrated way is key to building turbines that are cost-effective and reliable."

A team of about 50 engineers are working to fine-tune the design of the first offshore wind turbines ever developed in North America. The team could add as many as 30 new employees by the end of the year, Matthys said.

The goal is to install two of the prototype units by the fourth quarter of 2012 – one on land and the other offshore. The site of the installation has yet to be determined, but Matthys said the company is considering sites in Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina.

For now, Northrop's role is limited to design and engineering. Matthew J. Mulherin, the Newport News shipyard's general manager, said the company is interested in participating in the construction and installation of the turbines, but said the prospects "remain to be seen."