The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
The Obama administration announced Monday that it could begin leasing sites off the coasts of Virginia and three other states for wind energy development by the end of the year.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar also announced that the federal government would spend $50.5 million over the next five years to fund research and development to support offshore wind energy.
"Today's announcements represent major steps in our nation's march toward a clean energy future that will help to capture the possibilities that offshore wind power offers our country and offers our economy," Salazar said Monday morning at the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center in Norfolk.
The initiative aims to kick-start private development of offshore wind farms by offering locations and a framework for approving them. The goal is to avoid a controversy like the one that enveloped the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts, which has been caught in political and regulatory problems for a decade.
Eliminating another stumbling block to such offshore development, the departments of Energy and Interior worked with the Defense Department to identify locations that wouldn't interfere with military operations and training, Salazar said.
The Virginia site is approximately 20 nautical miles off the coast of Virginia Beach and spans 165 square nautical miles.
A total of 746 square nautical miles has been identified for development off the coasts of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Officials plan to reveal similar sites off the coasts of New England states such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island next month and locations off southern seaboard states this spring.
There's a potential 94 gigawatts of wind energy off Virginia's coast, just a tenth of which could power 3 million homes, Chu said.
Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a statement applauding the federal government's quick timeline for leasing offshore sites but also cited the cost of such energy.
"Virginia stands ready to compete for the dollars the Department of Energy plans to invest in research and technology development needed to reduce the cost of offshore wind energy," he said. "The high cost of offshore wind energy is currently one of the major barriers to utility scale development of this resource in this country."
McDonnell is scheduled to attend a ribbon cutting Thursday in Chesapeake for the launch of an "offshore wind technology center," a partnership between Northrop Grumman and Gamesa Technology Corp., a Spanish manufacturer of wind turbines.
The Department of Energy outlined three areas for research and development funding:
- Up to $25 million for development of the technology behind both wind turbines and the structures supporting them in the ocean;
- $7.5 million for development of a new wind turbine drivetrain aimed at making wind energy more cost effective;
- $18 million for market and environmental research.
Dominion Virginia Power plans to be among the companies vying to develop an offshore wind farm, said Jim Norvelle, a spokesman. The company already runs large onshore wind farms in West Virginia and Indiana.
"We've been interested in offshore for a while," he said.
The company hasn't settled on how large a farm it wants to build, but Norvelle said he expects it to be in the "hundreds of megawatts" range.
"Any new source of generation has a cost," Norvelle said. "Our challenge as the leading energy provider in Virginia is making sure that any cost increase to accommodate new generation is reasonable."
Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation applauded the initiative.
The announcement Monday comes four months after a Maryland-based transmission-line firm proposed building a $5 billion underwater electricity transmission line to serve wind turbine farms from New Jersey to Virginia. Trans-Elect Development Co. LLC's proposal has the backing of Internet search giant Google Inc. and a New York-based investment firm.
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
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Problems understanding Definite Quantities?? Why???
what fuels this "use it all now" mentality?? (pardon the pun)
Why not wind, solar, nuke, and other possibilities that all will help to remove us from the OPEC teet?
Unless I was a Piglet, I simply could never understand the mentality of those that dont want an alternative, sustainable source of power.
supply/ demand
simple
This should be up to each State to decide if and when
Oil rigs or windmills, both or none, it should be entirely up to each state to decide what they want placed off their shores. If these sites are leased, the revenue should go directly to the State!
"it should be entirely up to
"it should be entirely up to each state to decide what they want placed off their shores. If these sites are leased, the revenue should go directly to the State!"
And when there is a massive cataclyesmic disaster "THE STATE" will be financially accountable for damages (long and short term), clean-up, repair, and litigations. Also, don't expect any assistance from the Coast Guard and Homeland Security; the state must contract their own as well as be liable for probable Federal fines and sanctions. I want my freedom! Take our country back!
States
only have jusisdiction three miles offshore. Territorial waters beyond that are under federal jurisdiction.
Once Again
1. We're already running out of oil.
2. Our reliance on the Middle East for oil has caused nothing but problems.
3. This is a clean and unlimited source of energy.
4. The technology has already been proven in other nations.
5. This provides an opportunity for huge investment by private firms.
6. Not to mention the jobs.
Response here:
Bad idea! It's all a conspiracy! Our taxes will go up!
Welcome to Hampton Roads!
Proove me wrong...
1. False, We are discovering more oil, and developing technology to reach what we couldn't before at a far faster rate than we are consuming.
2. Concur, that's why we need to invest in domestic production
3. False, the energy produced is limited by a function of the wind and efficiency of each turbine.
4. Concur, it has been proven to be a immense tax burden, costing localities jobs.
5. False, the private investments count on making money through government grants, that isn't making more money or jobs but a net cost of both.
6. False, mentioned two ways it costs jobs already.(hint if your trying to prove me wrong using numbers from Spain)
#1 needs to be clarified
#1 While we are discovering more oil, it is, in most cases, very expensive to get at and the ecological consequences to obtaining much of it would be prohibitive. With oil running around $90 per barrel at present, who is going to spend $120 or more to get at the stuff locked up in rocks under North Dakota?
Very True
The cost of drilling all these reserves will and has gone up. The cost and the nothing but the cost of energy will allow and spur the creation of cost effective alternatives.
To claim that we are almost out, or running out of oil is dishonest and clouds the debate. Environmentalists have been claiming that we have been out of oil since the 70s, I remember reading it in public school text books, just a quick update it's been 40 years and we still haven't run out.
Twice again
1. and 2. This has nothing to do with oil. Windmill turbines do not create petroleum or polymers.
3. Clean, yes, unlimited? What happens when the wind isn't blowing or blowing above 30 knots? Sounds pretty limited to me.
4. Other nations have not had the success they advertised. Denmark is the [arguably] largest user of wind...at 18%. The rest is purchased from other countries...yep mainly from coal burners.
5. EVERY country that has gotten into wind generated electricity has HEAVILY subsidized it with VERY LITTLE private investment. Subsidy = higher taxation to pay for it.
6. Negligible at best. This will not be a mass manufactured product like televisions, automobiles and radios.
Welcome to reality...
How do windmills reduce our
How do windmills reduce our dependence on oil? Will your car run on wind? Will plastics be produced with wind? Will all the homes that heat with oil suddenly be able to use wind energy? Wind will provide electricity. Very expensive electricity. When those windmills become obsolete years from now who is going to remove them?