This year, the American Wind Energy Association and the Offshore Wind Development Coalition are hosting their Offshore WINDPOWER conference in Providence, Rhode Island on October 22-23. This annual event usually draws about 1,000 participants from all over the world so they can “learn more about technological advancements, hear first-hand how the U.S. government is successfully advancing offshore energy development, and network with top-tier developers, government agency representatives, and many other industry leaders making offshore wind energy news. If you’re working with the industry, or just interested in offshore wind energy, you should absolutely plan on attending this event.
(Tip: Even though the conference officially starts on Oct. 22, you should really plan on arriving earlier on Oct. 21 to take advantage of the U.S. Offshore Wind Market and Supply Chain Workshop at 1PM and an evening reception later that day.)
I’ve attended this event for the past four years. In 2009, AWEA’s Offshore Wind Workshop was held in Boston – the event had gotten so big the decision was made that the next year it would host a full expo in addition to the conference. Next, Atlantic City, New Jersey was chosen to host Offshore WINDPOWER 2010. Some 1,200 people showed up for the conference and expo where new offshore wind companies and technologies were introduced. Then Offshore WINDPOWER 2011 was held in Baltimore, Maryland. Maryland had been on the brink of passing ground-breaking legislation to promote offshore wind; and now that law has been passed. Last year’s Offshore WINDPOWER 2012 was hosted in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Shortly thereafter, Virginia’s federal process for offshore wind leasing took off. Every year I’ve been impressed at the top-tier issue analyses, world-class exhibitors, networking opportunities that are second-to-none, exemplary poster presentations and exceptional venues.
Offshore WINDPOWER 2013 is heading to Providence, Rhode Island. No doubt the offshore wind activities off The Ocean State is what is drawing the conference there. The conference organizers have upgraded the event experience this year with greater online connectivity between the agenda, attendees and expo companies. Planning for this conference, from an attendees perspective, has been a breeze.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has been selected, for the second year in a row, as an Event Partner for Offshore WINDPOWER. This year, my colleagues Chris Carnevale and Allie Brown will be attending the conference with me. I’ll be presenting a poster on our new Sea Power report. That report shows, in utility-terms, how offshore wind energy should command market premium prices because it acts like a peaking generation in the summer and more like a base load or intermediate resource in the winter. Basically, offshore wind is a high value resource and it should be recognized as such. For next year, the conference is already planned to head back to Atlantic City in part because of New Jersey’s recent strides in offshore wind. Hopefully the conference will return to the South soon to recognize our great strides. I hear New Orleans is great for conferences!