The United States has never been shy about following European trends. Be it politics, philosophy or fashion, ideas have flowed west across the Atlantic Ocean for centuries. After 20 years of development and fine tuning, it appears the U.S. is set to jump on another European bandwagon: offshore wind energy.
Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Essex, Great Britain is one of about 50 offshore farms in European waters (Photo by Ashley Dace)
Europe’s first offshore wind farm Vindeby, an 11-turbine farm in Denmark, has been generating power since 1991. As of June 2011, Europe has erected 49 offshore wind farms totaling 1,247 turbines according to a report by the European Wind Energy Association.
In the U.S., despite ample coastline and wind potential, there is not one offshore wind turbine.
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) is considering two different offshore wind proposals. Since 2009, the company has been working with a collaborative that includes the New York Power Authority and Con Edison on what is being called the Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative. LIPA is also considering a proposal made in 2010 by Deepwater Wind, a Rhode Island based company.
LIPA has not yet made a decision on either project. At this point, the collaborative’s project is still in the very early stages. A decision on Deepwater’s proposal could happen early in 2012. While LIPA appears open to the idea of offshore wind, the company is certainly not breaking down any barriers.
In 2007, Long Island passed on an opportunity to be an offshore wind pioneer in the U.S. when Kevin Law, then CEO of LIPA, put the brakes on a proposal to build a wind farm off the Jones Beach coastline.
Opponents of the Jones Beach project had two main concerns. Some said the $811 million price tag was restrictive, while others argued a wind farm would ruin the coastline aesthetically.
Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, said he believes it will not be long before the U.S. begins using offshore wind energy.
“When you see what’s happening in Europe, the growth that’s happening in Europe and the projections, that trend will come to these shores,” Raacke said. “We’re hitting critical mass in the U.S. now.”
Currently, two U.S. offshore proposals have been approved by all the necessary regulatory agencies: the Cape Wind project near Cape Cod and the Delaware Offshore Wind Farm. Those are both utility scale proposals, meaning the wind farms will generate a very large amount of energy. The largest offshore farm in the world, Thanet in the United Kingdom, has 100 turbines. The Cape Wind project includes 130 turbines, which is significantly larger than Thanet.
A third smaller U.S. project, however, could become the first offshore farm in the country and eventually lead to offshore wind on Long Island. Deepwater Wind plans to build a five-turbine farm off the coast of Block Island, which is located just 14 miles east of Long Island’s Montauk Point.
“Block Island will be the stepping stone,” said Clint Plummer, vice president of development for Deepwater.
The eventual goal for Deepwater is to build a utility scale farm to bring electricity to Long Island. The challenge for Deepwater is getting LIPA to agree to buy the power from the farm because all other factors aside, offshore wind energy has traditionally been more expensive than other forms of energy due to significant initial construction costs.
Conveniently for Deepwater, LIPA is currently shopping for new power sources. In 2010, LIPA issued a request for proposals (RFP). The company wants to buy 2,500 megawatts of power.
According to Jeffrey Grybowski, a senior vice president, Deepwater submitted their plan to LIPA’s RFP in March 2011. Deepwater’s proposed farm would be 30 miles off the east coast of the island and would include about 150 turbines.
Deepwater was not the only company that submitted a proposal. According to LIPA Vice President of Power Markets Paul DeCotis, LIPA received 45 different proposals from 16 sponsors. DeCotis said LIPA expects to make a decision on the proposals early in 2012.
“We think we have a very good opportunity to be selected because offshore wind, we think, is the only utility scale renewable energy option that Long Island has,” Grybowski said of Deepwater’s chances to be selected by LIPA. “Other forms of renewable energy can be deployed on the island but not at a very large scale.”
Addressing some of the concerns that were detrimental to the 2007 Jones Beach project, officials from Deepwater said they believe their proposal will be “competitively priced” and “far enough from the island that it is virtually invisible from the shore.”
“Save Jones Beach,” an ad hoc group that opposed the 2007 Jones Beach project, did not reply to an interview request to discuss the future of offshore wind on Long Island.
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, has been an advocate for offshore wind on Long Island for a decade. She said Deepwater is Long Island’s “best hope,” and it can be a cost effective option.
“There is no volatility for wind power; the cost is only in the installation,” Esposito said. “It stays the same over 20 years, as opposed to oil which is going up consistently.”
Though it might be the best hope to some, the Deepwater project is not the only hope for offshore wind on Long Island. The Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative is working a utility scale project that would be located about 15 miles off the Rockaways on Nassau County’s southern shore.
Michael Deering, LIPA’s vice president of environmental affairs, said he believes the collaborative proposal is much stronger than the previous LIPA Jones Beach proposal.
“I think this project—having the collaborators that come together to share the cost and share the power while being able to put it out further into the water—bodes very well,” he said.
According to DeCotis, both offshore wind options—Deepwater’s proposal and the collaborative project—could come to fruition for Long Island; a decision on one should not affect the other.
Europe is off to the races when it comes to offshore wind. Asia began getting its feet wet in 2010 when China built the continent’s first offshore site, a 34-turbine farm at Donghai Bridge. It appears the U.S. will be getting into the game soon, but the question of whether or not Long Island will be involved is yet to be determined.
As the winter winds blow in the coming months, a decision that could have both environmental and geopolitical consequences is being considered in the offices of the Long Island Power Authority.