WIND ON TEXAS WATERS

Coastal Point sees progress on Texas offshore test turbine
Richard A. Kessler, Octyober 6, 2011 (ReCharge)

"Developer Coastal Point Energy… intends to place a two-blade 750kW turbine with a 90-metre hub-height on a platform that it designed and installed about 8 miles (12.8km) off Galveston Island in area leased from the state…Coastal Point has been gathering meteorological and other data from the platform for more than two years, and believes the site is suitable for an eventual 300MW utility-scale wind farm…

"Coastal Point intends to test a water desalinisation system on the platform powered by the turbine, which will not be connected to the onshore electrical grid. There will also be a secondary system for power storage…If successful, the company wants to scale-up the system using a 2MW or 3MW turbine…"

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"…Coastal Point has designed a vessel with a self-erecting tower and carriage arrangement for a 3MW turbine. This would eliminate the need for expensive heavy-life vessels, and allow installation in regions without suitable onshore support infrastructure or assistance from host countries.

"If the company can find a buyer for its power and financing for [a proposed 12 MW] Galveston project, it must still obtain a permit to build it from the US Army Corps of Engineers…Assuming that occurs and the wind farm is built, the developer has four other projects off the Texas coast on the drawing board for a total 2.1GW."