Virginia will be home to the nation’s first facility to test and certify large-scale offshore and land-based wind turbines that have the potential to create thousands of jobs for the state in the future.

The project, called Poseidon Atlantic, will be set up in Northampton County and is the work of private companies — U.S.-based Real NewEnergy and Dutch companies Furgo and Ecofys — with support from the state, the Virginia Port Authority and the Netherlands’ government. It’s expected to create 25 new jobs in the next two years, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Thursday.