The Turn Forward team recently headed to Virginia Beach for the 2025 International Partnering Forum (IPF), the largest offshore renewable energy conference in the Americas. It was a rare chance for our mostly remote team to be in the same place, connect face-to-face with industry partners, and take stock of where things stand.

The theme this year? Resilience – with a healthy dose of realism. Between conversations about regulatory challenges, market uncertainty, and political headwinds, there was also a shared determination: offshore wind is a long game, and we’ve been here before.

Offshore Wind Isn’t a Partisan Issue

At this year’s IPF conference, bipartisan momentum for offshore wind was front and center. A standout panel, Bridging the Divide: Engaging Republican Lawmakers on Offshore Wind, tackled the political hurdles head-on, but also spotlighted common ground. Offshore wind isn’t a partisan issue when framed around values like job creation, energy security, and domestic manufacturing.

Left to right: Hillary Bright (Turn Forward), Jennifer Mundt (North Carolina Department of Commerce), Christina Baworowsky (CRES), and John Szoka (Conservative Energy Network) speak on the Bridging the Divide panel. Photo: Matt Kleigman

Speakers emphasized the need to counter misinformation with credible, proactive engagement. As Christina Baworowsky of CRES said, “If we don’t bring good information to policymakers, they’ll only hear the misinformation.”

Offshore wind has a strong economic story and that’s the story lawmakers need to hear.

Other panels highlighted what’s at stake in Washington. With a permitting pause in place and a stop work order issued (and later rescinded) to Empire Wind, there is a sense of urgency to regain certainty in the federal permitting process. Advocates are also calling on Congress to defend clean energy tax credits and support the policies already fueling investment, manufacturing, and high-quality jobs.

We’re Still Moving Forward

Despite the headwinds, the message at IPF was not one of defeat. Supply chain momentum is still strong. There is more than 10 GW of offshore wind – enough to power almost 4 million homes – fully permitted and ready to generate power faster than any comparable energy resource. And, advocates are showing up in new and important ways to tell the story of how this industry supports real people and real communities across the country.

We started our time in Virginia Beach with a tour of Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. It was a clear and humbling reminder of what this work is all about. These aren’t just abstract policy fights. They’re decisions that shape people’s lives, their jobs, and the future of our energy system.

A yellow transition piece, in place to hold a 14.7 MW state of the art offshore wind turbine – enough to power a home for a full day! – with CVOW’s two pilot turbines in the background.

Later in the week, we joined the Southeastern Wind Coalition for a harbor tour that showcased the real-world infrastructure behind offshore wind development, including a cable-laying vessel, pictured below. Seeing the scale and complexity of these operations up close was a powerful reminder of how far this industry has come. The activity around the harbor was matched by the discussions on the tour boat as many local advocates and community leaders discussed how the CVOW project, and offshore wind, more broadly, is creating opportunities in Hampton Roads. 

A cable laying vessel from Prysmian Cable.

There’s no doubt that the road ahead will be bumpy. But there was a quiet confidence at IPF that this is just the latest chapter in a story that has always required grit, creativity, and coalition-building. We left feeling proud, motivated, inspired by the progress being made in Virginia, and ready to keep pushing.

Let’s keep the momentum going.