Offshore Wind Wire

Salazar Announces Plan to Issue Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Leases by End of 2012

By: Peter Brennan
Baltimore – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that leases for offshore wind development off of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware would be issued by the end of 2012 after an environmental review resulted in a finding of no significant environmental impact. The announcement follows President Obama’s call for additional clean energy [...]

MORNING ROUNDUP: Salazar, O’Malley Schedule “Major” Offshore Wind Announcement

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley are scheduled to appear tomorrow in Baltimore to announce a “major step” in regional offshore wind development, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced yesterday.
The officials will appear at the Baltimore World Trade Center with BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau.
According to the announcement, the press conference will [...]

ANALYSIS: Maryland’s New Offshore Wind Plan

By Todd Griset
This week Gov. Martin O’Malley unveiled his revised plan for offshore wind development off Maryland.
Previous efforts to promote economic development through offshore wind have failed to gain legislative approval.  Gov. O’Malley is back with the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2012 (Senate Bill 237) a retooled proposal that he touts as both [...]

MORNING ROUNDUP: Duke Energy Plans NC Offshore Wind Transmission Study

Duke Energy is planning a $670,000 study on the transmission capacity required to develop offshore wind near North Carolina, the Charlotte Business Journal reported Friday.
The project would be supported by up to $530,000 in Energy Department funding, according to the report.
Maryland Labor Groups Want Guarantees
Maryland labor groups are asking for guaranteed involvement in offshore wind development in exchange for [...]

MORNING ROUNDUP: Dispute Over Cape Wind Timeline

Grid manager ISO New England released a report casting doubt on Cape Wind’s claims that it will be producing power by 2015, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
The January 3 report said that “the ISO and its consultants … have determined that it is unlikely that the project will achieve Commercial Operation” by June 1, [...]

MORNING ROUNDUP: Maryland Offshore Wind Push Faces Challenges

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s offshore wind plan faces more challenges than it did a year ago, when it was abandoned by the legislature, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
The plan would compel utilities to buy power from offshore wind farms.
“The situation has gotten worse — not better — for offshore wind since the last time [...]

AFTERNOON ROUNDUP: BOEM Seeking Comments on Offshore Transmission Backbone

Atlantic Wind Connection Takes Step Forward

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today that it is taking the next steps in its review of the Atlantic Wind Connection, the proposed transmission line that would connect offshore wind farms with the mid-Atlantic electricity grid. According to a press release accompanying the announcement, BOEM is [...]

ANALYSIS: NRG’s Offshore Wind Pullback

By Todd Griset
NRG Energy announced this week that it is “putting active development of offshore wind projects on hold for the near term.” This is a significant shift for NRG’s subsidiary Bluewater Wind and the projects it has been developing, and may have broader implications for the US offshore wind market. NRG [...]

NRG Suspends Bluewater Offshore Wind Project

NRG Bluewater Wind has suspended development of its offshore wind project near Delaware, citing the lack of funding for the federal load guarantee program and uncertainty over tax credits for wind projects.
“Our people have worked hard and we’ve made a considerable financial investment in the wind park, but that effort cannot overcome the difficult and [...]

MORNING ROUNDUP: DOE Funds Delaware To Investigate Offshore Wind Transmission Needs

The University of Delaware has received a $540,000 Energy Department grant to investigate the management strategies and electric grid upgrades needed to transmit electricity from offshore wind farms to the load centers on the Atlantic Coast, the school announced yesterday.
“Many large U.S. cities are located on or near the East Coast, giving them close [...]