THE PROGRESS OF OFFSHORE WIND

Wind power study touts value of offshore power generation

September 14, 2012 (Power Engineering)

“…[The Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy from the National Wildlife Federation] notes that the United States generates no power from offshore wind at present, but that…actions by the federal government, along with bipartisan leadership from coastal state officials, have put critical building blocks in place…to finally tapping this massive domestic energy source…

“…[The report recommends elevating, 1] the Department of Energy's scenario for achieving 54 gigawatts of cost-effective offshore wind energy by 2030…[2, codifying] goals for renewable energy generation…[3, extending] tax incentives including the federal Investment Tax Credit for offshore wind, the Production Tax Credit and Advanced Energy Project Credit…[4, taking] direct action to secure [offtakers]…[5, increasing] funding to…support research and deployment…[6, enacting] strict pollution reduction policies…and [7,] coordinating offshore wind energy development decisions with federal, state, tribal and regional coastal and marine spatial planning efforts…”

click to enlarge

“The effort to generate power from wind in the Gulf of Maine continues to focus [at the University of Maine] on floating turbines…After initial research [to get the cost of the energy to be competitive], development and installation costs, floating wind turbines will eventually produce wind energy at a lower cost than the fixed units used in offshore European sites and land-based wind energy farms…

“…[T]he federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management [also] continues to accept comments on an application by Statoil North America to move ahead with plans to construct a floating wind farm off the coast of Maine. The federal agency set an Oct. 9 deadline for potential competitors for the Statoil project to express interest in any of the 22 square miles that Statoil proposes to lease for offshore wind energy production in federal waters off Maine…”

Tweet