SENATE BILL BOOSTS OFFSHORE WIND

Senate Bill Expands Offshore Wind Incentives to 2020
March 10, 2010 (Sustainable Business)

"US Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced legislation that would extend production and investment tax credits for offshore wind power until 2020.

"The Carper-Snowe-Brown-Collins Offshore Wind Bill would provide the offshore wind industry greater stability, because of the long lead times required to permit and construct wind turbines offshore, compared to onshore wind energy."

click to enlarge

"Offshore wind includes any wind turbine located in the inland navigable waters of the United States, including coastal waters and the Great Lakes…

"According to the University of Delaware, the winds off the Atlantic Coast have the potential of generating 330 gigawatts (GW) of power. That is enough power to replace about 300 dirty, large coal plants and enough power to support nine states from Massachusetts to North Carolina."

Offshore wind is especially valuable because it is adjacent to population concentrations. (click to enlarge)

"A number of proposed offshore wind projects are moving through the development process--including projects in Delaware, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Projects have also been discussed off the shores of Maine and the Great Lakes states.

"In Delaware, NRG Bluewater Wind has estimated it will create 1,200 jobs during construction--and approximately 300 jobs for operation and maintenance throughout the life of the project…[The Senators] are also working on additional legislative measures to support and expand emerging offshore wind initiatives."