VIRGINIA LOVES OFFSHORE WIND

2 Va. firms seek to establish offshore wind farms
Steve Szkotak, February 25, 2010 (AP via BusinessWeek)

"Federal regulators have received leasing proposals from two Virginia companies seeking to develop offshore wind farms capable of supplying clean energy to hundreds of thousands of homes.

"Apex Wind Energy Inc. is proposing to lease 116,000 acres for an undetermined number of wind turbines with the potential to generate up to 1,500 megawatts of power…[and] Seawind Renewable Energy Corp. envisions building 240 turbines to generate enough power for more than 250,000 homes annually…Both wind farms would be located 12 miles off of Virginia Beach…"

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"Virginia has been pushing hard to be at the forefront in the U.S. of the offshore wind energy industry, which has been tangled in a federal regulatory thicket for a decade…Gov. Bob McDonnell has made offshore drilling and wind energy a cornerstone of his new Republican administration, aiming to make Virginia the "Energy Capital of the East Coast" and the first to produce energy offshore. Virtually every Atlantic Coast state has formally expressed some interest in offshore wind energy, but only several states have generated leasing applications.

"…[The Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition ] representing Virginia Beach and Norfolk, the state's two biggest coastal cities, and industry leaders was created in January to promote Virginia as the "Silicon Valley" of wind energy on the East Coast…[T]he development of [such] a wind power hub in Virginia has the potential to become an $80 billion industry creating more than 10,000 jobs…The Sierra Club of Virginia estimates the state could be producing 20 percent of its energy needs from offshore winds within a decade…Virginia is positioned to take the lead, with a deep-water port essential to supporting the infrastructure an offshore wind farm [with 300-foot-tall turbines and 200-foot blades] would require…"

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"The U.S., which has no offshore wind farms, lags considerably behind western Europe, where 25 commercially successful offshore wind projects are operating. In Denmark, for instance, 20 percent of its energy demand is met by wind power, with about half of from offshore wind turbines…Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is intent on smoothing the regulatory process, and has promised to work with East Coast states to streamline the process…Interior's Minerals Management Service manages 1.7 billion offshore acres with wind-energy potential.

"In Virginia, both wind projects are proposed for areas that would put them out of sight of the coast but within shipping lanes, migratory birds and busy sea traffic from Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base. NASA's launch facility on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore also limits some activity off the coast…The proposed wind farms would be located well within the area 50 miles off the Virginia coast that is being considered for gas and oil drilling…[T]he lease application is the first step in a long [scientific evaluation] process, which could take five years…What that science reveals will determine what type of turbines will be used and how fully the 100,000 acres can be developed…"