OFFSHORE WIND SLOWLY EMERGING

Offshore winds blow fast, but farm development slow; The development of offshore wind farms would drive job creation and stimulate industries such as offshore shipping and installation work.
Kathleen Zip, June 9, 2010 (Windpower Engineering)

"…From 2009 through 2012, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) tax credits and loan guarantees could spur 40,400 MW in new wind generating capacity…The wind energy gold rush is on…

"But…large-scale wind U.S. power installations are land-based…Yet according to NREL, the best winds are not on land, but on the outer continental shelf (OCS) and the Great Lakes…Offshore wind development would drive job creation and elevate other industries such as offshore shipping and installation and development of marine-friendly equipment and operation and maintenance regimes."

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"Despite this, there has been little wind energy development in offshore areas. The closest an OCS wind program is to existence is Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound…[Its] 130 wind turbines [would] produce up to 468 MW…As for the Great Lakes, no offshore wind project has yet been developed…

"[There are plans for OCS projects in] Delaware…Maryland…New Jersey…Maine…[and] Rhode Island…[that] could generate…from 3,000 to 15,000 [jobs] per project, using federal figures of 15.6 jobs created for every $1 million in renewable energy investment…[doing] everything from fabricating wind turbine components, to building and operating the interconnection grid…"

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"…In December 2009 the New York Power Authority (NYPA) released a request for proposals (RFP) to develop…[utility scale, offshore wind power project totaling about 120 to 500 MW, to interconnect with transmission grids controlled by the New York Independent System Operator] anywhere in the New York State waters of Lake Erie, or Lake Ontario, or both…[It] is the most recent offshore wind effort under way in the Great Lakes, but…[t]he most advanced is [a 20 megawatt project on Lake Erie off Cleveland] in Ohio…Another project being tentatively discussed is a proposal by Scandia Wind Offshore LLC for a 1,000 MW wind farm on Lake Michigan…

"Many issues must still be resolved before commercial-scale wind energy projects begin operating on the OCS or in the Great Lakes… [But] the combination of government incentives, state and proposed federal renewable energy portfolio standards, and potential investment payoffs is moving offshore wind energy projects from low-profile possibilities to highly publicized opportunities..."