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New Jersey And Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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New Jersey intends to become a major hub for offshore wind in the United States.  The state recently announced a plan to build a 30-acre port along the Delaware River for assembling and deploying wind turbines, as well as an additional 25 acres for manufacturing facilities.   The new port is expected to cost as much as $400 million and create 1,500 jobs in southern New Jersey.

The port will be located on an artificial island that was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers early in the 20th century.  The island is already home to three nuclear reactors.  No bridges exist between the island and the Atlantic Ocean, so turbines that are built at the staging facility could be hoisted upright and towed out to sea without obstruction.  Some components are as tall as 500 feet and when fully constructed on the ocean, the turbines selected for New Jersey’s first offshore wind project will be more than 850 feet tall.

A second phase of the program would add over 150 acres to accommodate extensive manufacturing facilities for turbine components like blades and nacelles.

Construction on the port is expected to start next year.  New Jersey has pledged to produce 7,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035 and to generate 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2050.  Apart from deploying offshore wind, New Jersey wants to have a significant piece of the supply chain for what is likely to be a growing industry along the northeast coast.  The state views offshore wind as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only protect the environment but also greatly expand its economy in a way that has immediate impacts and long-term growth.

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New Jersey Announces $400 Million Offshore Wind Port

Photo, posted September 18, 2010, courtesy of Vattenfall Nederland via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Giant U.S. Offshore Wind Project Begins | Earth Wise

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In recent years, the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management – the agency that oversees energy projects in federal waters – has been granting leases for offshore wind projects in the waters of multiple states on the East Coast.  Up until now, none of these leases have actually resulted in the deployment of any wind turbines because the process of gaining approvals, project plans, surveys, funding and other requirements is a long and tortuous one.

In late May, the first offshore wind turbine in U.S. federal waters was installed 27 miles offshore from Virginia.  The 6-MW Siemens turbine is one of two turbines making up the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot project.  The pilot project is expected to be operational later this year.  This project is the first to receive go-ahead approval by the BOEM.

The CVOW project is a development by Dominion Energy, a Virginia-based utility that operates in 20 states.  Dominion’s project will eventually be a 2.64 GW mega-farm that could be the largest offshore wind farm in the world.  Construction of the main project is expected to begin in 2024.  It will be sited in the seabed of a 112,800-acre lease area.  The site is currently being surveyed to determine potential impacts to ocean and sea life.

Dominion Energy has made multiple commitments to emissions reduction and the massive offshore wind farm is an important part of its efforts to meet those commitments.  The CVOW pilot project is only the second offshore wind installation in the U.S.  The first, the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, is in state waters and did not require BOEM approval.

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A ‘monumental day’ for US offshore wind as first turbine is installed in federal waters

Photo, posted May 13, 2011, courtesy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Floating Turbines For Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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Offshore wind is big in Europe.  There are more than 5,000 offshore wind turbines across 12 European countries with a total capacity of more than 22 gigawatts.  Almost every one of those turbines sits on a long tower sunk into the seabed and bolted into place in places where the water is 60 to 160 feet deep.

But off the coast of northern Scotland, there is the Hywind Wind Park which has five 574-foot-tall turbines located 15 miles offshore where the water is 300 feet deep.  The giant masts and turbines sit on buoyant concrete-and-steel keels that allow them to stand upright and float on the water like a giant buoy.  The giant cylindrical bases are held in place with mooring cables attached to anchors that sit on the seafloor.

A key advantage of floating turbines is that they can access outlying ocean waters up to half a mile deep, which is where the world’s strongest and most consistent winds blow.  Another advantage is that such turbines can be installed over the horizon, out of sight of coastal residents who might not like to have wind turbines visible in their scenic ocean views.

Floating wind power has enormous potential for contributing to the expansion of renewable energy.  Offshore wind is still quite a bit more expensive than land-based turbines, and the cost of electricity from distant floating turbines is more than that from near-shore wind turbines.   But all of these costs are likely to come down with improving technology and increased production volume.

There are real challenges to the expanded used of floating wind farms, but the promise of harnessing so much of the open seas for electricity generation is an attractive proposition.

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Will Floating Turbines Usher in a New Wave of Offshore Wind?

Photo, posted July 17, 2017, courtesy of Crown Estate Scotland via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Plan For New England Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

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Last December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned off lease rights for developing offshore wind in the New England Wind Energy Area.  The auction brought in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Recently, the five New England offshore wind leaseholders – Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Ørsted, Eversource, and Vineyard Wind – jointly submitted a uniform turbine layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The five developers joined forces to respond to feedback from key stakeholders in the region including the fisheries industry, the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and coastal communities.

The proposed layout specifies that wind turbines will be spaced one nautical mile apart, arranged in east-west rows an north-south columns, and the rows and columns will be continuous across all New England lease area.  Independent expert analysis confirmed that this uniform layout would provide for robust navigational safety and search-and-rescue capability by providing hundreds of transit corridors to accommodate the region’s vessel traffic.

Vessels up to 400 feet in length can safely operate within the proposed turbine layout and will allow the region’s many fishing vessels to follow a wide range of transit paths as they come from many different ports and head to a variety of fishing grounds.

The New England Wind Energy Area is expected to be able to provide as much as 8 GW of electricity generation for the states in the region.  Getting approval for this planned layout is one of multiple steps required before the offshore wind complex becomes a reality.  Overall, states along the U.S. East Coast are seeking to procure more than 19,300 MW of offshore wind capacity through 2035

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New England offshore wind developers submit uniform layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Potential For Offshore Wind

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According to a new report from the International Energy Agency, offshore wind technology has vast potential for meeting our energy needs.  In total, offshore wind has the potential to generate more than 420,000 terawatt-hours of electricity each year, which is more than 18 times the global electricity demand that exists today.

Based on current policy targets and plummeting technology costs, offshore wind could increase 15-fold by 2040, becoming a $1 trillion industry and eliminating 5 to 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Offshore wind today generates just 0.3% of the world’s electricity, but its’ use is growing rapidly.  The industry has grown nearly 30% a year since 2010, and 150 new offshore projects are currently in development around the world.  The leading countries are in Europe – especially in the UK, Germany, and Denmark – but China is greatly expanding its offshore capacity and the US, India, Korea, Japan, and Canada are also expected to make large investments in offshore wind going forward.

Offshore wind is in a category of its own because it is considered a variable baseload power generation technology.  This is because the hourly variability of offshore wind is much lower than solar power or onshore wind.  Offshore wind typically fluctuates far less from hour-to-hour than the other variable energy sources.

Technology improvements and industry growth are driving steep cost reductions for offshore wind.  The cost of offshore wind is expected to be cut in half in the next five years, dropping to $60 per megawatt-hour, which is on par with solar and onshore wind and cheaper than new natural gas-fired capacity in Europe.

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Offshore Wind Has the Potential to Fulfill Global Electricity Demand 18 Times Over

Photo, posted August 9, 2016, courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

New York Offshore Wind

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New York has passed ambitious legislation to reduce the carbon emissions that cause climate change, but the state needs to start taking action to make those reductions possible.  One such action it has taken is an agreement that will enable the construction of two large offshore wind projects.

The projects are to be built off the coast of Long Island.  One will be 14 miles south of Jones Beach and the other 30 miles north of Montauk.  The wind farms will be built by a division of Equinor, a major Danish energy company, and a joint venture between Orsted, another Danish company, and Eversource Energy, an American firm.

The two New York wind farms are expected to be operational within the next five years and have the capacity to produce 1,700 megawatts of electricity.  That is about 20% of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s overall goal for offshore wind.

Wind farms are a major energy source in the United States, now providing about 7% of the country’s electricity.  That compares with only 2% in 2010. But nearly all American wind turbines are on land.  There is only one small offshore wind farm in the US off the coast of Rhode Island.  Things are very different in Europe.  For example, Britain expects to get 10% of its electricity from offshore wind next year, which is up from less than 1% in 2010.

Developers of offshore wind farms have struggled to gain a foothold in the US.  Some projects have foundered because of cost issues, but others have faced opposition from politicians and coastal-property owners.  But assuming the New York wind projects clear permitting and environmental hurdles, offshore wind may finally be on the move in the US.

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New York Awards Offshore Wind Contracts in Bid to Reduce Emissions

Photo, posted May 22, 2007, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lots Of Renewable Energy Jobs

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According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, there were 11 million people employed in renewable energy worldwide in 2018.  This compares with 10.3 million in 2017.  So roughly three-quarters of a million new jobs were added last year.   As more and more countries manufacture, trade and install renewable energy technologies, renewables jobs continue to reach new high levels.

The geographic footprint of renewable energy jobs is changing.  Until now, renewable energy industries have remained relatively concentrated in a handful of major markets such as China, the US, and the European Union.  But more recently, East and Southeast Asian countries have emerged alongside China as key exporters of solar technology.  Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam were responsible for a greater share of growth in renewables last year.  Overall, Asia has a 60% share of renewable energy jobs worldwide.

Beyond climate goals, low-carbon economic growth has become a driver for renewables technology.  Renewables deliver on all the major elements of sustainable development:  environmental, economic and social.

The solar photovoltaic industry continues to be the most dynamic renewable enterprise.  It accounts for a third of the renewable energy workforce with more than three million jobs.  

Biofuel jobs were up by 6% to over 2 million.  Wind power supports 1.2 million jobs, with onshore projects predominant.  But the offshore wind segment is gaining traction.  Hydropower is still the largest installed capacity of all renewables but is now only expanding slowly.  The hydropower sector employs 2.1 million people directly, three-quarters in operations and maintenance.

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Renewable energy market employs 11 million in 2018 – IRENA

Photo, posted January 11, 2012, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewables Taking Over In Britain

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A year-and-a-half ago, we reported on the steep decline in the use of coal in Britain, including the conversion of the giant Drax Power Station from burning coal to running on wood chips.  Since then, Britain has been steadily moving away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources.  The transformation is being driven by a surge in offshore wind farms currently under construction or about to begin operating.  Britain is in the process of adding over 6 GW of offshore wind to its current total of 8 GW.  Renewables generated one-third of the UK’s electricity last year, and half of that came from wind power. 

In 2018, coal- and gas-fired power stations generated about 131 terawatt-hours of electricity in Britain.  Renewable energy plants – including wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower – produced about 96 terawatt-hours.  Based on the new projects coming online, renewable sources could generate 121 TWh by 2020 and fossil fuel plants are likely to fall to 105.6 TWh as more coal plants are retired.  Thus, within the next year or so, renewables in Britain are likely to surpass fossil fuels in electricity generation.

The transformation in Britain has been rapid and dramatic.  In 1974, the country generated 80% of its electricity using coal.  By 2016, that number had dropped to 9%.  Last April, the British power grid went three days in a row without burning any coal.  The UK is expected to shut down its remaining coal plants by 2025, if not sooner. 

At the same time, Britain’s renewable energy capacity has more than quadrupled since 2010, jumping from 21 TWh that year to 96 TWh last year.  Britain’s energy mix is changing fast and getting significantly cleaner every year.

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Renewables Could Surpass Fossil Fuels in Britain by 2020

Photo, posted August 2, 2008, courtesy of Richard Allaway via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

U.S. Offshore Wind Powering Up

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After many years of false starts and delays, the offshore wind industry in the U.S. finally seems to be gaining momentum.  According to the Department of Energy, more than 25 offshore wind projects with a generating capacity of 24 gigawatts are now being planned.  Most of these are off of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts.

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Renewable Energy Projects In The Northeast

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The seven northeastern U.S. states that make up the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have all set ambitious emissions reduction goals and renewable energy targets that will be difficult to meet.   For example, New York has the goal of getting 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2030.

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A Big Wind Farm for New York

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The Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority has voted to approve the nation’s largest offshore wind farm, which is also the first offshore wind farm in New York.  The South Fork Wind Farm, located 30 miles southeast of Montauk, New York, will be a 90 megawatt facility that will provide enough electricity to power 50,000 Long Island homes and help meet increasing electricity demand on the South Fork of Long Island.

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2016 Carbon Progress Report

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Last year was a big year for progress in the U.S. power sector.  Renewable energy provided nearly 17% of the country’s electricity, up from 13.7% in 2015.  The first offshore wind farm in the U.S. opened off the coast of Rhode Island.  And most significantly, carbon emissions from the power sector continued to decline and reached the lowest levels in nearly 25 years.

[Read more…] about 2016 Carbon Progress Report

Floating Wind

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Offshore wind power can supply a significant amount of energy to our hungry grid.  In many places in Europe, it is doing just that.   Here in US, it is just starting to be used in some places in the Northeast, with the first small offshore wind farm coming on line off the coast of Rhode Island.

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Offshore Wind In Europe

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The U.S. has just turned on its first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island.  In the meantime, offshore wind continues to grow by leaps and bounds in Europe.   Wind energy in the European Union accounts for 12% of its electricity supply.  Until 2011, offshore wind comprised only 5-10% of the newly-installed wind energy capacity; now it about one third of the new installations.

[Read more…] about Offshore Wind In Europe

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