Companies have been selected that can give Virginia "a competitive advantage and accelerate development of offshore wind power and its associated supply chain", the governor's office said.
The state believes that the investment will yield further investment from the companies, amounting to $3 million.
Dominion Virginia Power has been handed $310,000 to advance geotechnical studies for early project engineering analysis on the outer continental shelf.
In 2013, Dominion was handed a lease to develop a wind project of up to 2GW, 27 kilometres off Virginia's coast, after it won a commercial auction.
Timmons Group, an engineering and technology firm has received $250,000 to develop the "proof of concept" for a commercial offshore meteorology and environmental monitoring programme.
French turbine manufacturer Alstom was selected for a $40,000 award to develop controls to adjust turbines to respond in real time to incoming waves, reducing wear on the rotor and generator.
CoastalObsTechServices has been given $260,000 to perform a 12-month wave measurement project and develop awave forecast model to help mitigate the risk of construction delays and service vessel inaccessibility.
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