First offshore wind farm in U.S. could come to Delaware
Perhaps someday families will go on vacation in their electric-powered RVs to the coast of Delaware. Once there, parents will look out upon the water and say, "Kids, this is where offshore wind power came to the U.S." The kids won't listen - they'll be too busy with their hydrogen-powered toy cars (still the only affordable hydrogen vehicles) to care. Still, the parents will like arms and smile and think back to June 2008.
Why? Because yesterday, BlueWater Wind and Delmarva Power signed a deal to create North America's first offshore wind farm. Nothing is set in stone yet (there are backout clauses in the contract) but the $800m deal could power 50,000 homes - and their EVs - using 70 windmills off of Rehoboth Beach by 2012. According to ABG reader GoodCheer, who sent a tip in before anything was officially announced and seems to have the goods, these are the details:
-Delmarva Power will buy all production up to 200 MW @ 0.0968 / kW-h
-Farm size will be determined based on how many other customers BlueWater can drum up, up to a maximum of 600MW.
-Location will be 11.7-17.9 miles offshore, ENE of Rehoboth, DE.
-Proposed structure is monopile driven into the sand/gravel bottom (prehistoric flood-plane of the Delaware River), 30 m in.
-Turbine supplier TBD.
There's more at Delaware Online.
[Source: Delaware Online, GoodCheer]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Munson 12:37PM (6/24/2008)
Feel sorry for the people with ocean front property that have to look at the windmill farm rather than the horizon, but it is for the greater good.
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T 1:00PM (6/24/2008)
My family owns many beach homes on the east coast. This sets Rehoboth apart from the rest and moves it one more notch up on the list of beaches in which I'd like to buy a home. They're probably so far off the coast you wouldn't even see them, but I'd like to be able to see them. They'd add to the relaxing nature of the beach community. Hopefully the deal goes through!
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Serge 1:07PM (6/24/2008)
There is another project on the East Coast that has been in the works for some time: Cape Cod (http://www.capewind.org). Those who go live first will be the first ...
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Dad 1:22PM (6/24/2008)
"using 70 windmills off of Rehoboth Beach by 2012"
The folks in Rehobeth will go bonkers. They will fight this! Even if it is a good diea, the Libs will probably just go nuts. NIMBY!!!!!
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Throwback 1:23PM (6/24/2008)
There is some debate as to whether or not you will be able to see them. I go to the De beaches quite often, I would prefer NOT to see them thank you. My questions is, will electric rates be lower for consumers?
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Tony Belding 1:41PM (6/24/2008)
It annoys me how they always describe the output as "enough electricity to power XX,000 homes!" I suspect if they told it in megawatts, then it would be apparent just how little we're talking about, in comparison with a conventional coal or gas power plant.
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BlackCanary 2:09PM (6/24/2008)
Will electricity costs go up, down, or stay the same for people in Del? I would rather have a Nuc plant that could provide WAY more power.
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Neil 2:13PM (6/24/2008)
Tony: the article clearly states 200-600MW. IIRC that's the size of a small coal plant.
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BlackCanary 2:26PM (6/24/2008)
"Location will be 11.7-17.9 miles offshore, ENE of Rehoboth, DE."
I dont think you will be able to see much if anything during the day. I am sure you will see the airplane warning lights as dots during the night. Seems pretty expensive upfront to lay the power lines from the windmills to the shore. Wonder how long this will take to become profitable. Just curious as to the economic viability for an electric company. I assume its not real good or these would pop up much easier. I dont think its an engineering problem as much as it is a economic problem and the the NIMBY problem.
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GoodCheer 3:01PM (6/24/2008)
To answer some of your questions:
There is an expected increase in the monthy electricity bills of all Delaware users of about $5.00. In a survey conducted by Kempton & Firestone (U.Del), 65% of Delaware respondents said they would be willing to pay an additional $5/mo for renewable energy.
The increase in cost is NOT related to the Power Purchase Agreement with Bluewater Wind. In fact the energy costs are lower than what Delmarva Power is currently paying. The increase costs are due to the requirement in Delaware's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that Delmarva Power buy renewable energy credits on the open markets. They would be subject to this cost with or without the wind farm, and in fact the presence of the wind farm reduces their costs since in-state generation is counted at over-unity by the state regulators (other sources for these credits are all out-of-state).
As for public acceptance, unlike Massachusetts there is overwhelming support for this project. In the same U.Del survey, 77.8% of Delaware respondents support, 4.2% oppose. Of those living near the coast (average 0.6 miles away), 65% support, 19.5 oppose.
The turbines will be visible on clear days
http://www.bluewaterwind.com/de_photos.htm
It should be noted that much of the coast in that area is Cape Henlopen State Park and Delaware Seashores State Park, so there are fewer rich residents to complain.
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Joseph 5:19PM (6/24/2008)
This is great, but I go tot he beach many times a year, and quite frankly, I wouldn't like to be able to clearly see them. If they're just little specks out on the horizon, it'd be okay. At 12 miles away, I'd imagine they'd be pretty small.
I mean, I see cruises and ugly cargo ships coming in all the time and they've never bothered me. So, considering the distance, I don't think it should be a problem.
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Jared 5:59PM (6/24/2008)
Isn't this autobloggreen.com not radom evironmental post that I feel like.com
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stevefazek 7:57PM (6/24/2008)
NIMBY is such bs
an off coast windmill looks like this close one eye and hold you arm out as far as you can and hold up your thumb. Its a bit less than that.
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Dave 10:36PM (6/24/2008)
I, for one, support the idea of using Delawarians (Delawarites?) as guinnea pigs in renewable energy experiments.
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GoodCheer 9:50AM (6/25/2008)
Jared: My next car will have a plug, so greening up the electric utility IS greening up my (next) car.
Dave: Thanks; As one, so do I (though the wind resource in Nantucket Sound is much more consistent and abundant). In point of fact though, many other states have far higher penetrations of wind energy. Iowa has about 12% installed capacity, while Texas has about 5.5 GigaWatts installed. Denmark is at about 20% installed capacity, much of which is from offshore wind farms. Compared to these, Delaware is small potatoes, either in absolute capacity, or wind fraction.
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stevefazek 7:20PM (6/25/2008)
With wind power they cost more to build than coal but once its up it doesnt need to burn 50 million worth of coal a year.
It only requires check ups oil changes paint and other things. Less maintenance than a coal plant.
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Jeffrey Bruner 8:31PM (6/28/2008)
If the visualizations created by the company are accurate, they won't be much more than little specs on the horizon during the daytime.
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