What? Celebration of the first Wind Powered Holiday Light Display in Virginia Beach
When? December 8 at 4:30 pm
Where? Behind the Super 8 by Wyndham Hotel at 1719 Atlantic Avenue
Who? Students and teachers from Virginia Beach Schools and representatives of Dominion Energy, Beach Events,
City of VA Beach and WINDSdays campaign to build a culture around clean energy, a green environment, and the power of wind
Since November 19, thousands of vehicles have been traveling down the Virginia Beach Boardwalk each evening, their occupants enjoying dozens of holiday, nautical, and adventure-themed light displays. But the 2021 BayPort Credit Union Holiday Lights at the Beach has a new twist this year. One of the displays is powered by a small wind turbine, to remind guests that by 2026, there will be nearly 180 towers, each 800 feet tall, located 27 miles off the coast, generating enough clean renewable energy for 660,000 homes on land. There will be a second wind farm off Kitty Hawk, NC, to be developed by Avangrid Renewables.
A celebration of the project, which has its roots in the city’s school system, will take place on December 8 at 4:30 pm at the display itself, located behind the Super 8 Hotel on the boardwalk between 17th and 18th Streets.
The project is a partnership of:
• the Virginia Beach Public Schools’ Environmental Studies Academy at the Brock Center,
• Dominion Energy (developer of Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind),
• James Madison University’s Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy,
• Beach Events, which produces Holiday Lights at the Beach,
• WINDSdays, the communications arm of the Virginia Beach Mayor’s Commission on Offshore Wind and Clean Energy
The display was actually created by students at Salem High School five years ago as part of a student competition. It features a dolphin pulling Santa in a boat. Environmental Sciences Academy director Chris Freeman and his students, in partnership with Beach Events and James Madison University’s Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy, conceived of the idea of powering it with wind, then coordinated the purchase, delivery and assembling of the turbine, to keep the 12-volt display lit from 5:30 each evening until 10 pm (Sun-Thurs) and 11 pm (Fri-Sat) through January 2. The Environmental Studies Academy can use it going forward for other demonstration programs.
To purchase tickets for the Bay Port Credit Union Holiday Lights at the Beach, visit www.beacheventsvb.com. Cars will enter the Boardwalk at 21st Street.
“We are thrilled to partner with the schools, Dominion Energy and WINDSdays to show how wind power works and to do so with a display made by our own students,” says Bobby Melatti, Vice President of Integrated Management Group (Beach Events) and a former member of the Virginia Beach School Board. “There is signage alerting drivers to the wind powered display and who made it possible.”
“We work with educators and school administrators across the state to bring meaningful renewable energy education into the classroom,” says Remy Pangle who runs JMU’s Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy and also the Wind (and Solar) for Schools program across the state. “When we heard that Virginia Beach wanted to power a light display with a wind turbine, we put them together with the right distributor to obtain the equipment. It’s very exciting.”
“Our students are learning about renewable energy so it’s great for them to see this application,” says Chris Freeman. Dominion Energy paid for the purchase of the turbine. “We are very grateful for their support,” says Joel Rubin, who directs the WINDSdays campaign, the marketing arm of the Virginia Beach Mayor’s Commission on Offshore Wind and Clean Energy. “We urge everyone to take in the Holiday Lights Display and slow down a bit to marvel at the one run by clean, renewable energy.”
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