OffshoreWind.net- Offshore Wind Energy News in North America

First Offshore Wind Farm Proposed For Lake Michigan- Dec 16 2009

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:40:29 -0500

A wind energy company is gathering public input on what could be the first offshore wind farm on Lake Michigan. The project would cost $3 billion dollars, and Scandia Wind Energy LLC says it would create thousands of jobs during the construction phase. Project director Harald Dirdal says his company is looking at building the wind farm in the waters just south of Ludington. He says the area is the perfect location for connecting to the power grid, so electricity can be transmitted to high population areas such as Detroit and Chicago....

Maine identifies 3 offshore wind-power test sites- Dec 15 2009

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:45:51 -0500

Officials on Tuesday identified locations of three offshore wind-power test sites that could unlock the door to huge reserves of energy equivalent to more than 100 nuclear plants in the nation's most oil-dependent state. The sites will be near Boon Island off York in southern Maine, near Damariscove Island south of Boothbay Harbor, and south of Monhegan Island off Port Clyde, Gov. John Baldacci's administration announced. The University of Maine, which has received an $8 million federal grant for offshore wind power studies, will develop the Monhegan site....

N. Grid, Deepwater in wind power deal- Dec 9 2009

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:31:28 -0500

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s effort to secure the nation’s first offshore wind farm off Rhode Island cleared a key hurdle on Wednesday as developer Deepwater Wind LLC and National Grid Plc announced the signing of a 20-year power-purchase agreement...Electricity generated by the eight-turbine farm planned off Block Island, which is the smaller of Hoboken, N.J.-based Deepwater’s two proposed projects, will cost 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour when it begins operating in 2013, according to National Grid, the state’s dominant utility. That is down from a reported price of 30.7 cents in October. The contract also calls for annual price increases of 3.5 percent....

Plan Advances to Build Wind Farm Off New York- Dec 9 2009

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 22:30:51 -0500

New York area politicians and energy officials are moving ahead with what could be the nation's largest offshore wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean 13 miles from Queens. The New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative, a group of utilities and government agencies, said Wednesday it would request proposals next year from developers for a 350-megawatt wind farm near the Rockaway Peninsula that could cost more than $1 billion and involve more than 100 turbines...

EPA cleared to regulate U.S. emissions as Congress stalls-Dec 7 2009

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 22:47:31 -0500

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday cleared the way for regulation of greenhouse gases without new laws passed by Congress, reflecting President Barack Obama's commitment to act on climate change as a major summit opened in Copenhagen...

Cape Wind Power Purchase Talks Are Set- Dec. 2 2009

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 22:48:49 -0500

Cape Wind, the long-delayed offshore wind power project in Nantucket Sound, will begin negotiations with a major utility, National Grid, to sell the power it plans to generate...

NYPA President Kessel Calls for Proposals to Develop the First Fresh Water Wind Energy Initiative in the Nation- Dec. 1 2009

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 22:51:28 -0500

New York Power Authority (NYPA) President and Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Kessel announced today the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for the development of offshore wind power projects in the New York State waters of Lake Erie and/or Lake Ontario. Not only will this represent the first initiative in the Great Lakes, it will be the first wind power development of any kind in a fresh water body in the nation...

Patrick, Kirk at odds over wind farm-Nov 28 2009

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:48:17 -0500

The administration of Governor Deval Patrick, in a sharp disagreement with Patrick’s handpicked Senate appointee, said yesterday that it would be a mistake for President Obama to grant US Senator Paul G. Kirk Jr.’s request to delay federal approval of the Cape Wind project...

Offshore Wind Discussion Board- New Site Feature

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:14:18 -0500

OffshoreWind.net now offers a place to discuss news articles and topics related to offshore wind energy in North America. We encourage active industry followers to participate in this forum. Registration is easy and takes less than one minute.

Clemson University Restoration Institute lands $98 million- Nov 23 2009

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:43:26 -0500

The next-generation wind turbines and drive trains will be tested by the Clemson University Restoration Institute in a move that is expected to create hundreds of jobs and place one of the most important sites for wind energy research and development in South Carolina. The Clemson University Restoration Institute and its partners have received a $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, combined with $53 million of matching funds, to build and operate a large-scale wind turbine drive train testing facility at the institute’s research campus on the former Navy base...

UNH gets stimulus funds to test floating wind turbine- Nov 19 2009

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:15:21 -0500

The University of New Hampshire�s Center for Ocean Renewable Energy will receive $700,000 in federal stimulus money to test the nation�s first floating deepwater wind turbine off the Isle of Shoals...

Nat Grid still won’t buy from Deepwater- Nov 18 2009

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:12:22 -0500

After two months of talks, Deepwater Wind LLC and National Grid are still unable to agree upon a contract for the utility to purchase electricity from the developer’s offshore wind farm. In a filing made Wednesday afternoon with the R.I. Public Utilities Commission (PUC), National Grid submitted an unsigned power-purchase agreement, saying the two sides remained apart over the issue of price...

Markey presses for Cape Wind approval- Nov 10 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:09:09 -0500

Although Representative Edward J. Markey is chairman of a congressional climate change panel and a coauthor of the global warming bill passed by the House in June, he had never explicitly come out in favor of the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. But yesterday, Markey wrote a strongly worded two-page letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging him to approve the Cape Wind project before next month’s international climate talks in Copenhagen to “send a strong message to international negotiators about the United States’ commitment to developing sources of clean energy and reducing global warming pollution...’’

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia sign wind power agreement- Nov 10 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:05:27 -0500

Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine agreed Nov. 10 on a tri-state partnership for the deployment of off shore wind energy in the Mid-Atlantic coastal region. The three states signed a Memorandum of Understanding creating a formal partnership that will build on the region’s significant offshore wind resources to generate energy and a sustainable market that will bring new economic opportunities...

NRG Energy Buys Bluewater Wind-Nov. 9 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:58:30 -0500

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) acquired offshore wind power developer Bluewater Wind on Monday, seeing strong potential in a generation technology that's still trying to find footing in the U.S. The Princeton, N.J., power producer bought the business from Australia's Babcock & Brown Ltd. (BBNLF) and Arcadia Windpower for an undisclosed sum. Babcock & Brown is in the midst of liquidating assets. NRG Energy said it funded the purchase with cash on hand...