Press Mention New York Times June 8, 2009
SACE Quoted
Southeast Mulls Offshore Wind Power
In this mention
The article explores the potential for offshore wind development in the Southeast, particularly in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Brandon Blevins of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy discusses the region's strong wind resources and favorable conditions for offshore wind farms, noting that federal climate regulations and renewable energy requirements could drive development. Several utilities and state agencies are conducting feasibility studies and data collection for potential offshore wind projects.
offshore wind really represents a huge opportunity
Brandon Blevins
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Full transcript
Southeast Mulls Offshore Wind Power
By Kate Galbraith
To date, most offshore wind farms proposed in the United States have been in the Northeast. Cape Wind, a project off the shores of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, is awaiting a federal go-ahead, and similar ventures are in the offing near the coasts of Delaware, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
In the Southeast, too, "offshore wind really represents a huge opportunity," said Brandon Blevins, the wind program coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, whose recent report on renewables in the South includes coverage of offshore wind. The Carolinas and northern Georgia have especially strong winds, he said.
Offshore wind power is expensive, and the projects have to date made more economic sense in places like the Northeast where power prices are already high. The Northeast coast also has higher population densities, so there are more customers for the power. And there is the small matter of hurricanes.
On the more positive side, said Mr. Blevins, the outer continental shelf extends at least 30 miles off the Southern coasts — and the relatively shallow water would make it easier to install turbines. Off the coast, the winds blow strongly in the afternoons — a convenient time, because that is when Southerners crank up their air-conditioning.
Southern Company, a large utility that is heavily reliant on coal, is currently applying for leases from the Minerals Management Service, a federal agency that oversees offshore wind power, to put up three towers that will collect weather data in the waters off of Savannah, Georgia, according to Jason Cuevas, a Southern Company spokesman. The company is also applying for a lease that would allow it to collect data about the wind along Florida's panhandle east of Pensacola, Mr. Cuevas said.
South Carolina's energy office, along with Santee Cooper (a state-owned utility) and a local university, plans to put buoys off the state's coast to measure the weather. The installation has been held up by choppy waves, but hopefully will go into the water in the next few weeks, according to Laura Varn, a Santee Cooper spokeswoman.
And North Carolina is considering offshore wind near its Outer Banks.
Mr. Blevins said that federal energy and climate regulations would help drive development — particularly a potential national carbon emissions cap and renewable energy requirements.
As for costs, offshore wind is "going to be cost-competitive with the new nuclear generation," he predicted.