OFFSHORE SOUTH CAROLINA WIND RICHES

Blowin' in the Wind; Can Grand Strand lead an energy revolution?
Kimberley Moore, January 13, 2011 (Weekly Surge)

"…[T]he United States is faced with an aging and deteriorating infrastructure and a rapidly depleting supply of non-renewable resources...And [South Carolina’s] Grand Strand is at the epicenter of a new movement to restore the country's infrastructure and economy by building on renewable resources…[Because wind is] a renewable, primary source of energy the Grand Strand has in abundance…as up and down the East Coast, states…scramble to be the first…to develop offshore wind farms…[South Carolina] may emerge as the big winner…

"…The DOE's report, 20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply,, finds that the nation possesses natural resources to supply far in excess of 20 percent [of its power from wind]. In South Carolina, shallow coastal waters and wind speeds combine to make our location ideal for offshore wind energy…[The DOE’s] National Renewable Energy Laboratory…estimates South Carolina has nearly 130,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy potential, enough to provide more than 260 percent of the state's current electricity generation demand. The NREL estimates for each megawatt of offshore wind energy capacity built in U.S. waters, more than 20 direct jobs would be created…"

click to enlarge

"…[T]he Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal Carolina University and is lead principal investigator of the Palmetto Wind Research Project. The project, in its seventh year, is a collaborative effort among CCU and North Carolina State University, Clemson University, Santee Cooper, the South Carolina Energy Office and several other state and local groups, to study the possibilities for offshore wind farming along our coast…To further the cause, the DOE 2010 budget for wind energy was $79 million, with more than $24 million invested in research and testing alone…

"…[T]he Palmetto Wind Research Project [installed] six buoys in two locations…[and, in] August, the researchers collected the buoys, compiled the data, and began to look at the next steps of the project…[The] Project hopes to have an offshore platform for an anemometer tower built in Winyah Bay, which would measure wind speeds and direction, taking measurements at up to 80 meters up, in search of what researchers call "the hub height" where the resource is the greatest…"

click to enlarge

"Ports up and down the East Coast are in a race to corner the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind energy market…[T]he city of North Myrtle Beach has asserted itself as a demonstration city…In late November, North Myrtle Beach and Santee Cooper installed the first wind turbine to the South Carolina electric grid, a 30-foot, 2.4 kilowatt Skystream wind turbine located on the oceanfront…The turbine begins to generate electricity when the wind speed reaches eight miles per hour, and runs at full capacity at speeds of 29 miles per hour. While the turbine contributes to the state's electric grid, it produces only a small amount of power, about enough to run a refrigerator. The main purpose of the turbine is as a demonstration project to educate the public and raise awareness about the future of wind energy…

"The offshore wind industry in South Carolina is a grassroots movement among academics, researchers, and emerging new businesses being built from the ground up, and the Grand Strand stands on the verge of a tremendous opportunity…For South Carolina, not investing in infrastructure and development of coastal wind resources could still leave coastal residents paying a hefty cost…[for not] reducing reliance on coal and other non-renewable fossil fuels…"