By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff
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| Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said the government shutdown delayed new permits for offshore wind projects. (Tim Faulkner/ ecoRI News photos) |
PROVIDENCE — There may
not be many wind turbines in the water — just one, so far, in the United States
— but there is certainly an abundance of interest and money going into the
idea.
On Oct. 22, the first
day of the two-day Offshore Windpower Conference & Exhibition at
the Convention Center, some 800 attendees and dozens of energy companies from
across the United States and from Scotland, British Columbia, England and China
looked for a share of the funds flowing into proposed projects in the Northeast
and around the country.
In recent years, the
Department of Interior (DOI) has invested $180 million in research and
development for offshore wind. During the past six years, the Department of
Energy has spent $300 million on offshore wind, including $24 million for an
indoor turbine test facility in Charlestown, Mass., and $10 million to the
University of Maine for a floating platform wind system.
In addition to the Rhode
Island offshore wind projects, federal water off Massachusetts, Virginia,
Maryland, New Jersey and Oregon will be auctioned for commercial wind energy
development.
The opening of public
waters and financial incentives to help build the infrastructure needed for
national growth in offshore wind development have sparked renewed interest in
the sector, said the event's keynote speaker, DOI director Sally Jewell.
The nation’s first water-based turbine, at a modest 65 feet high, began sending power to the grid in May. The University of Maine project is a prototype for what's ahead in southern New England: Cape Wind, Deepwater Wind off Block Island, and the Energy Center off Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
To get these and other
wind farms spinning, speakers stressed the need for Congress to extend federal
tax incentives beyond 2013 and to garner broader public support.
Messaging
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| Dennis Duffy, left, of Cape Wind and Jeffrey Grybowski of Deepwater Wind delivered updates on their offshore wind projects. |
The messaging, Kiernan
said, must emphasize that wind energy is good business. Offshore wind helps
diversify the broader energy pool, which is dominated by natural gas, he said.
Kiernan noted that last February’s snowstorms “clogged” natural gas supplies, causing prices to jump 400 percent to 800 percent. A diversified portfolio keeps long-term prices down and helps meet energy needs when demand is strongest, he said.
Kiernan noted that last February’s snowstorms “clogged” natural gas supplies, causing prices to jump 400 percent to 800 percent. A diversified portfolio keeps long-term prices down and helps meet energy needs when demand is strongest, he said.
“The wind is at our
backs but we do have a long way to go,” Kiernan said.
Jewell, who made her
third trip to Rhode Island since taking her post six months ago, described the
recent government shutdown “as a bit of a rude awakening.”
The former CEO of outdoor retailer REI said, “I didn’t expect the government to be shut down. I didn’t expect to be dealing with the kind of dysfunction we are dealing with in Congress right now, which is very, very frustrating.” Lease auctions off Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland were delayed until 2014 by the government shutdown.
The former CEO of outdoor retailer REI said, “I didn’t expect the government to be shut down. I didn’t expect to be dealing with the kind of dysfunction we are dealing with in Congress right now, which is very, very frustrating.” Lease auctions off Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland were delayed until 2014 by the government shutdown.
She advocated for
generating electricity in public waters to achieve President Obama’s goal of 10
gigawatts of renewable power by 2015, and 20 gigwatts that by 2020. Since 2009,
she said, the country's renewable output has doubled.
She congratulated
Deepwater Wind for winning the nation’s first-ever auction for the right to
develop offshore wind turbines in federal waters, between Rhode Island and
Massachusetts. Deepwater paid $3.8 million to build on 165,000 acres, an area
with enough capacity to power a million homes.
Aside from government
prerogatives, Jewell said, businesses already see the value of renewable energy
and cutting carbon pollution, much as she did at REI. “The point is business
get this,” she said.
Despite opposition in Congress, companies such as Walmart, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal company are cutting carbon. “The business train is marching down that track because customers expect companies to reduce their carbon footprint,” Jewell said.
Despite opposition in Congress, companies such as Walmart, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal company are cutting carbon. “The business train is marching down that track because customers expect companies to reduce their carbon footprint,” Jewell said.
Rhode Island
Gov. Lincoln Chafee
said the Ocean State's shallow water offshore and steady wind make it ideal for
developing an estimated 3.5 gigawatts of wind energy. Concerns related to
fishing, sea life and boaters have been addressed with help from the state’s Ocean
Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP).
“We’ll just have to
continue to do more on renewable energy. And we want to be in the forefront of
that here in Rhode Island," Chafee said.
Sen. Sheldon
Whitehouse, D-R.I., said offshore wind projects will create jobs at ports in
Providence and Quonset. He stressed an urgent need to expand renewable energy
to address climate change. “We are in a very scary spot right now with respect
to our carbon pollution," Whitehouse said.
Atmospheric readings
show carbon dioxide levels well out of range from the past 800,000 years, when
CO2 measured between 170 and 300 parts per million. “We are already at 400
(parts per million). The number is climbing,” Whitehouse said. “And we’re only
seeing the leading edge of the effects we’ve already backed in with carbon
pollution."
Massachusetts
Richard Sullivan,
secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said the
state’s policies for wind energy helped cut the cost of wind below the market
rate for electricity. Incentives also helped create 80,000 jobs and 5,500
companies in the renewable energy sector. Massachusetts, he said, plans to
invest more in renewable energy, including money for a wind development terminal
in New Bedford.
Cape Wind
Twelve years in, the
130-turbine, 420-megawatt project has all the needed state and federal permits,
said Dennis Duffy, vice president of Cape Wind. The power-purchase agreements
are in place. Final design and financing is underway. The project has weathered
13 appeals and expects decisions on two others this fall, including one
financed by billionaire William Koch.
Block Island
Deepwater Wind has
invested $30 million in the five-turbine, 30-megawatt project, 3 miles
southeast of Block Island. CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said the project is “moving
into financial closing mode.” His top priority is to make sure the project
qualifies for the federal investment tax credit.
Grybowski said he has been challenged to find local vessels to build the turbines. He expects to have final permits issued in the first half of 2014, including construction easements to build an electric transmission line between Block Island and the mainland.
Grybowski said he has been challenged to find local vessels to build the turbines. He expects to have final permits issued in the first half of 2014, including construction easements to build an electric transmission line between Block Island and the mainland.
Federal waters
Deepwater Wind won the
development rights for the 256-square-mile federal site, which Grybowski
described as one of the best in the country for wind development. Commercial
fishing concerns have been addressed, he said.
While many permits are
still needed, he praised the Ocean SAMP for making the project feasible.
Deepwater Wind contributed $3.2 million toward the development of the Ocean
SAMP. “We’re confident that the Ocean SAMP has given us a leg up on the whole
permitting process," Grybowski said. "And we feel confident that we
understand that area much better, frankly, than probably any other developer
who understands any other wind energy area on the East Coast.”
The project would run
electricity transmission lines to Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island,
he said. “And make Rhode Island an energy exporter for perhaps the first time
in the state’s history," Grybowski said.