It seems a match made in wind heaven: The Atlantic winds blow strong and regular against the East Coast of the States. Offshore wind harvested there is close to the densely populated urban areas that need electricity- the corridor from Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington.
But a number of States have realised the opportunity and are gearing up to start what could well become a golden age of offshore ind power. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has strong renewable energy policies could help bring about, by the end of this year (Cape Wind) while Rhode Island has put policies in place to support the development of a five-turbine demonstration project off Block Island- approval is about to be given and then construction is planned for 2015. This area may be well known for the seas where the Pequod whaled and Captain Ahab stumped the decks in Herman Melville’s great 1851 novel, Moby Dick.
Only last week, the New York Department of State released a study that maps wind, wildlife and environmental conditions in New York’s offshore waters. This study will allow offshore wind projects to be sited in ways that should avoid potential conflicts with wildlife and other marine uses. Ensuring that these projects are suitably sited and environmentally friendly should also speed the process of approving and building them; very important where attracting investment is important.
Here are some other pointers that indicate a golden age may be coming:
-President Barack Obama specifically gave offshore wind a boost in his State of the Union address on Feb. 12th this year. By some estimates, East Coast wind could eventually generate 127 gigawatts of power—enough to meet half of the energy needs of coastal states.
-Later this year, the US federal government is to start its first competitive lease-sales of some 164,750 acres 9.2 miles off the Rhode Island and Massachusetts coasts and 112,800 acres about 23.5 miles off the Virginia coast. The two federal tracts to be auctioned off could eventually host enough turbines to generate 4,000 megawatts of power or enough to supply 1.4 million homes.
-The Atlantic Wind Project, which includes computer search-engine titan Google, hopes to get a project that could eventually produce 3,000 megawatts of power off the coast of New Jersey.
-New Jersey has mandated that 22.5 percent of its power come from renewables by 2021.
-As mentioned above, East Coast offshore weather conditions are a plus. Offshore winds tend to pick up in intensity during the late afternoon during summer months when electricity demand is the highest. Winds off the Northeast coast are steady. A University of Rhode Island study showed that over 25 years, winds measured off Buzzard’s Bay blew at a regular 15 mph —a pace that beats East Coast inland wind speeds.
