Offshore Wind Wire

The White House said today that it will seek bidders for an offshore wind demonstration project to receive targeted federal “implementation support.”

The proposal came as part of President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request, which included a $49 million program to develop offshore wind technology.

“As a cornerstone of this effort, an offshore demonstration project will be selected for implementation support via competitive solicitation.  [Department of Energy] funds will be applied to up to 20 percent of the cost of developing the project infrastructure,” according to budget documents.  “Concurrent with this targeted offshore infrastructure development, the program will support specific analytical studies, collaborative efforts and R&D initiatives addressing barriers and risks of these offshore developments for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

The proposal did not list requirements for the demonstration project and did not include any details on the bidding process.

The White House said Energy Department efforts with broader benefit would include measuring offshore wind resources, gauging environmental impacts and developing cabling and interconnection plans.  The budget proposal will also support research on offshore turbine foundations, enhanced turbine reliability and offshore turbine construction vessels.

“The Wind Energy Program will invest in offshore wind turbine technology R&D to promote and accelerate responsible U.S. commercial offshore wind project development,” according to budget documents.  “Investments will address common barriers and risks to offshore projects.”