Va. shipbuilder takes spin at wind turbine

Va. shipbuilder takes spin at wind turbine    The Newport News Shipbuilding operation of Northrop Grumman Corp. entered an agreement Wednesday with Gamesa of Spain to build a 5-megawatt offshore wind turbine prototype for the U.S. market.
   Northrop Grumman and Gamesa will initially deploy a team of 40 engineers to Hampton Roads, Va., to initiate the project. The prototype wind turbine is to be set up by the fourth quarter of 2012.
   'Gamesa has said before it intends to play a significant role in the offshore market to ensure that it can tap the demand generated in the northern Europe market, specifically the United Kingdom, starting in 2015, as well in the United States,' said Dirk Matthys, chief executive officer of Gamesa in the United States. 'Our alliance with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News will give us the opportunity to test our technology on a short-term horizon, as well as to enhance and strengthen it.'
   The announcement comes as federal and state governments intensify their focus on developing offshore wind energy. Offshore wind projects totaling more than 5,000 megawatts have been proposed and are in the planning or development stages in the United States.
   In a statement, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, a proponent of wind energy, said the Northrop Grumman-Gamesa partnership 'places Virginia at the forefront of the developing offshore wind industry in this country. This is exactly the kind of project that is critical to making Virginia 'The Energy Capital of the East Coast.''
   Also Wednesday, the federal government signed a 28-year lease agreement with Cape Wind Associates to build the country's first offshore wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass.