The prospect of offshore wind farms seems like it’s been floating around for a long time now. We’ve heard about the controversy over Massachusetts’ Cape Wind Project and we’ve seen pictures of the offshore wind installations in European countries such as Denmark and the UK. Yet, to date, no offshore wind farms exist in the United States. Essentially, offshore wind has long been one of the “next big things” on the horizon, but has yet to make the jump to reality.
However, 2010 has quietly been a good year for the offshore industry, even though no projects have actually been built. One good sign came from New Jersey, where on August 19th Governor Chris Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act (OWEDA). OWEDA will provide tax incentives and financial support to developers building wind projects off New Jersey’s coast. It will also establish a renewable energy certificate program specific to offshore wind, part of which requires the state to set a target indicating the percentage of its electricity that should come from offshore wind projects. This is some of the first legislation in the country specifically geared toward supporting offshore wind, and thus it may illustrate one possible way for states with limited on-land wind resources (a category that includes pretty much the entire eastern seaboard) to capitalize on their renewable potential. Again, no projects have reached the construction phase, but two of New Jersey’s planned offshore projects—the Bluewater Wind Project and the Fisherman’s Energy project—have built meteorological towers and floated them into the Atlantic on buoys to begin collecting wind data.
Another promising development occurred back in April, when the aforementioned, much-maligned Cape Wind project finally received the go-ahead to begin construction, pending lawsuits. Once built, the project will provide the same amount of electricity as a medium-sized coal plant and reduce carbon emissions equal to removing 175,000 cars from the road. It’s nice to see a project which has always enjoyed tremendous popular support (81% of Massachusetts citizens and 61% of Cape Cod citizens endorsed it as of 2005), finally get cleared.
At National Wind, we’re not about to develop any offshore projects anytime soon (we’ve got plenty of lakes here in Minnesota, but none of them are quite big enough). National Wind’s first priority is to develop the United States’ excellent land-based wind resources, which include some of the best wind regimes in the world. However, we still think offshore wind projects have the potential to be great sources of electricity. They have all the environmental and economic benefits of land-based projects, and with the added benefit of increased wind speeds over water when compared to land. With this in mind, it’s time we take advantage of the rich energy resources our coasts have to offer.
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September 21, 2010 at 6:08 am
Offshore Farms « Wind Energy: Power of the Future
[...] This article offers an update on the progress of wind project around the country. The article mentions the Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts which has been postponed a number of time. It also says that the Governor of New Jersey has recently sign an act giving large tax incentives for companies to develop wind projects off the coast of New Jersey. [...]
September 22, 2010 at 2:24 am
George Yung
For the past 2 years or so I have been sending emails to my Florida state Senator Bill Nelson, our Governor Charlie Crist, and also President Obama urging them to develop a complete clean energy initiative. I have tried to encourage any and all, who will listen, to persist in the fight for clean energy. My premise is that politicians may not get the message quick enough if they rely on their advisors, so we constituants must make our thought and wishes very clear. Recently, I emailed President Obama to act in earnest to get moving on as many offshore wind projects as possible within his 4 year term. I have asked him to act as if this will be his one and only term and try to get as many clean energy projects underway that cannot be blocked if indeed he has only one term. I am but one voice and I am asking you to voice your opinions to your elected officials. I would ask that you even make efforts to cross party lines and use reasoning that will be effective to their political attachment. If they are not interested in cleaning and protecting our enviroment, then seek even ground and approach them about energy independance, long term price stability, job creation, etc… Do not think your voice cannot be heard, because it can. One day we will stand before our Lord and be judged on our actions and inactions.
Thank you
George Yung