Work on first US offshore wind farm beginsApr 28 - Investing.com
The construction work on the 30-megawatt Deepwater Wind Farm project off Block Island in Rhodes Islands, the nations first commercial offshore wind farm, commenced Monday marking a major step in the US exploring alternate energy sources to coal and hydrocarbons. On completion in 2016, the wind farm will produce enough electricity to power all the homes and businesses on the island, replacing the diesel generators that the islanders previously relied on, while also sending power to the mainland through a newly installed undersea cable. The project, consisting of five wind turbines just off the island, was originally conceived in 2009 when Deepwater Wind signed a contract with National Grid to provide 30 megawatts of power to Rhode Island . In 2013, the project went through a round of hearings in Rhode Island where Sierra Club stood alongside labor allies like LiUNA and environmental stalwarts like Audobon and the National Wildlife Federation in rallying community members and Rhode Islanders to testify in favor of the project. State lawmakers and members of Congress attended a ground-breaking of sorts for Deepwater Winds project at Block Island on Monday. The importance of this day cannot be overstated. The Block Island Wind Farm is our Apollo 11 moment, said Emily Norton , Director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Sierra Club . Green groups also praised the accomplishment, which is part of the Obama administrations efforts to encourage more offshore wind energy development, setting a goal of doubling renewable energy production on federal lands and waters before 2020. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has designated a wind management area off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts that has the potential to generate as much as 9,000 MW of clean wind power, which, if fully harnessed, would power 700,000 homes and create 43,000 offshore wind-related jobs on the east coast by 2030. In January, the Department of Interior leased 350,000 acres of space off the coast of Massachusetts for wind energy development. That area joins four other East Coast locations slated to eventually host wind turbines. Another sale is planned for the coast off New Jersey later this year. The change in Americas energy outlook over the last five years has been dramatic -- coal power is on the decline, now making up only 39 percent of our energy mix. In fact, over the last five years, 188 coal fired power plants have retired or announced that they will retire Moving beyond coal means more than just putting a stop to coal fired power; it means investing in Americas true clean energy promise, said Bruce Nilles , Senior Campaign Director of the Beyond Coal Campaign. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=35973490 |