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One of the first, if not THE first, commercial wind farms in the United States has recently been approved by the Delaware government. According to the Associated Press, the wind farm will initially consist of “about 60 large wind turbines about 11 miles east of Rehoboth Beach”. The power company that will build and operate the wind farm, Bluewater LLC, is also involved with wind farm development in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The wind farm is being designed to last 25 years, which not only allows Bluewater to recover its investment, but also will help provide price stability to utility customers. As has become painfully obvious over the past several months, traditional fossil fuels are subject to potentially large swings in market prices. The beauty of the wind farm concept is that wind always remains the same price - free. And, aside from the energy and emissions needed to build and maintain the equipment, the energy itself that is generated is truly emissions-free.  Why go offshore to generate wind energy?
In Delaware, and along the densely populated east coast, there is scarce suitable land for onshore wind parks.
Offshore wind speeds are generally higher, and wind is steadier.
Located more than 13 miles from land as proposed by Bluewater Wind, the Delaware wind park, when visible at all, will appear very small on the horizon.
Connecting offshore turbines to the power grid avoids construction of expensive high voltage overland transmission lines.
(bluewaterwind)References: bluewaterwind, news.moneycentral.msn Filed In: |
