What is proposed?
-
A Demonstration Project at
Grays Harbor in Washington
State
-
Seven 1000 MW Offshore
Projects at seven sites in six
states, selected using eight specific
criteria. The site names are followed by the FERC
application docket number.
 Renewable
Energy - 7000 MW and more if all seven sites are built - enough for about
2 million homes. And more power as the technology becomes more mature
and we learn more ways to generate clean renewable power from the ocean.
 Green
Jobs
- Investment of $20 billion or more. Build wind and wave machines and infrastructure for the projects, and then
build and export many more for offshore energy projects elsewhere around the
world. Create thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs and
thousands of planning, engineering and services jobs. Revitalize the
local maritime industries using ships and crews and equipment.
Energy High Tech - Study, invent and design the
newest generations of offshore wind and wave machines and their associated
software, electronics, materials, environmental features, etc.
Establish a global Center of Excellence in offshore wind / wave
technologies.
Sustainable Community Development - Invest revenues
in the community, in health, education and infrastructure, and work with the
community to create a common vision and shared benefits.
Environmental Protection and Enhancement - Existing
offshore wind farms in Europe's coastal waters (with migrating birds,
whales, crab and salmon) have no demonstrated environmental impact after
several years of operation. Enhance local fisheries by designing wind
turbine foundations as artificial reefs that provide new habitat and
biodiversity. Use technology that can be removed rapidly if problems
arise.
Phase 1: Feasibility Assessment
2009. It will include a detailed feasibility assessment and
initial permit applications for the demonstration project, and
high-level or overall feasibility assessments for the seven offshore
sites.
Phase 2: Demonstration and Site
Exploration
2010. The demonstration at Grays
Harbor is a mobile offshore
platform with a wind turbine and wave energy converters built into its
legs,
generating 10 MW, located in state waters about 2.8 miles offshore from
the towns of Westport and Ocean Shores in about 70 feet of water.
The same platform will move between the towns. Power cables to
shore are buried in the seabed and under the beach. The cables are
large-capacity to support future offshore energy transmission. There
are thus only two points of shore crossing. This one platform and two
cables will
not have significant environmental impacts but they will initiate the
regulatory and planning process for further development. This
project will be regulated by the FERC under its Pilot Project license
and by the State and other agencies.
Meanwhile the high-level
planning for the seven offshore projects will continue.
Phase 3: Offshore Site Pilot
Project
2012. In each of the seven offshore
sites a single platform and wind turbine will be assembled and installed
and observed for some time. These pilot projects will test local
environmental, physical and performance issues. They will be
regulated by the FERC and by the MMS.
Phase 4: Expansion
2014-2017. Construct between one and
seven large offshore wind and
wave "farms" further offshore, generating up to 7700 MW. These will be
located from 10-15 miles offshore and usually invisible from the
shore. The power from each farm is transmitted to the Phase 3 "anchor"
platforms and then to shore and the power grid. Manufacture
the turbines and associated equipment locally if possible and build up
capacity to produce more systems for farms elsewhere.
What are the environmental concerns?
The wind turbines, 10-12 miles out at sea, will hardly be visible from shore. The turbines and wave converters will
take up space in an area frequented by whales and marine mammals that may be endangered. It is
unknown whether the foundations will cause obstacle problems for
whales. Solid foundations will presumably appear as massive rocks which whales
avoid using their sonar sense.
The new turbine designs are demonstrated to not injure birds,
which fly around the huge slow-spinning blades. There are no significant noise
or pollution issues.
To mitigate for reduced fishing area available, the offshore
wind/wave power platforms will be designed as artificial reefs.
With suitable surface structure (nooks and crannies) they will be highly
productive hard habitat in areas that may have only loose sand and thus limited
biological productivity. It is expected that fish density will increase significantly in
the project area. The spacing of turbines and wave converters is sufficient for
large ships to easily navigate among them.
What’s in it for local communities?
The US Department of Energy has created
Jobs
and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) model to measure benefits of
energy projects. DOE estimated in 2004 that a 1000 MW wind
farm on land would have the following benefits:
The 2004 numbers are now out of date and before big increases in
cost of steel in particular happened in following years, but the
scale of impact is not that far off. In comparison, offshore
wind capital investment will be about $4 billion; there will be many
more construction and maritime jobs.
The benefits for local communities are
-
Generation of clean renewable
local energy from ocean waves and wind
-
Municipal and state tax revenues
-
New green jobs in construction, manufacturing, marine
services, planning and engineering
-
Technology development and advanced engineering
-
Waterfront development
Can this all be stopped?
Yes, of course. Dozens of agencies and organizations must participate in the
project development process and it must have significant majority support among
stakeholders. The FERC preliminary permit simply grants the right to study the
project before applying for a pilot project license. FERC licenses are
conditional upon authorization by relevant authorities. Although the
projects are in Federal waters offshore, the states must also grant
permission. The Company will not proceed if the state objects.
There is no need to stop anything at this time as nothing has
been proposed except exploring the feasibility of developing the sites. This is a good idea – generate
large amounts of renewable clean
energy locally while also creating many local green jobs. At any of
the sites proposed there may be issues that prevent the projects
from going forward. The Company will collaborate with all the
stakeholders to determine what is really feasible environmentally
and economically.
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