LOOKING OFFSHORE FOR WIND

The answer, they say, is blowing in the wind
Joseph Picard, June 21, 2010 (International Business Times)

"…Earlier this month…[ten] Atlantic Coast states [signed] a memorandum of understanding with the federal Department of the Interior that formally establishes an Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium to promote the efficient and responsible development of wind resources on the Outer Continental Shelf [called by some the Saudi Arabia of wind power]…

"…[I]f the Rhode Island project to set eight wind turbines off the shore of Block Island, and thus provide the island with electrical power, is the first wind turbine project to come to completion, companies that manufacture materials related to the industry will relocate to Rhode Island…[A] preliminary mapping project must first be completed …Rhode Island [hopes] to have permits issued before the end of the year, so that actual construction could start as early as next year…The eight-windmill Block Island project would be followed by a larger project of 110 turbines 15 miles out to sea [in federal waters, requiring federal permits and coming in perhaps 5-to-7 years]…"

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"In Massachusetts, the oldest offshore wind power project, the Cape Winds project, received a boost in April 2010 when the federal government officially approved the effort, which aims to place 130 wind turbines off the shore of Nantucket Island. The project has been alive for 10 years, but now has found a purchaser for the energy it promises to produce and there is speculation that construction could begin as early as the end of this year.

"Delaware recently received permission from the federal Department of Interior to start the bidding process…Bluewater Wind, developer of wind farms, is looking to construct a 150-turbine field 12.5 miles off the Delaware coast that could produce 230 to 450 megawatts of power. The $800 million project would generate more than 1,000 jobs during construction, and produce millions of dollars in revenue for the state each year…Delmarva Power has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Bluewater Wind to sell the utility up to 200 megawatts of power, once the wind turbines are [producing]..."

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"But, as is the case in Rhode Island, the time it takes to get federal permits can set the project back years…Responding to these concerns, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has promised to work to streamline the permitting process…Salazar said his department is working to make the rules clearer and to combine two environmental impact studies, now required, into one. He said he hopes to cut the permitting time in half. The consortium…should also contribute to speeding up the process.

"While the bureaucracy seeks to streamline the permitting process, Congress, if it passes the Clean Energy Bill as the Administration desires, may shift more funding and technical assistance towards wind power, which would give an added boost to the industry [without a significant cost to taxpayers]…"