According to the report, AECOM has begun pre-construction work on the pilot project and will eventually oversee procurement, construction and commissioning.

Atlantic Wind Connection Pitches Project To New Jersey Communities

Atlantic Wind Connection officials have presented their project for an undersea offshore wind transmission backbone at two New Jersey informational sessions and will hold two more in July, Patch.com reported today.

“These discussions have been an invaluable way for us to introduce the backbone transmission line project in an informal setting that has allowed for expansive dialogue from attendees,” said Atlantic Wind Connection CEO Robert Mitchell. “This educational process is important for us to undertake in order to learn of the local interest in offshore wind and explain how the Atlantic Wind Connection will provide the foundation, the inter-state highway for offshore wind that will enable the new industry to create thousands of jobs for New Jersey.”

The electricity would come from a planned 1,000 megawatt wind farm that the developer has planned for Rhode Island Sound and would be transmitted by undersea cable. The company’s existing power purchase agreement — for its much smaller pilot offshore wind farm near Block Island — calls for National Grid to buy the electricity at 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour in the first year of operations. The difference in this most current bid, company officials said, was the larger scale and the dramatically improved economies of scale.

“The best chance that we see of getting to large projects in the U.S. is to start off with small projects,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, Deepwater’s chief administrative officer.

LEEDCo Wants Offshore Wind Farm Operational By 2013

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, the non-profit organization seeking to develop a pilot offshore wind project near Cleveland, wants to begin construction next year and have the project operational in 2013, Reuters reported on Friday.

Freshwater Wind — a consortium of developers formed to build the project — could reach a power purchase agreement with utilities in the next month, according to the Reuters report.

“We think there is great value in being first, because our goal is not just to generate electricity,” said Dennis Eckart, a strategic adviser to LEEDCo. “One of our main goals is to create a supply chain industry that will support the building and deployment of these turbines.”

Atlantic City Project Receives Permits

Fishermen’s Energy has received its final state permits to build its six-turbine pilot project near Atlantic City, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The company received an electric-line easement as well as permission to build on the particular site, according to the report. Before it can move forward, the project still needs a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers as well as financing, according to company officials.

Bloomberg reported that the work to lay electrical cables could begin in December and wind farm construction could begin as early as May 2012.

Construction on the project could begin next year, according to the report.

“The development of offshore wind projects off New Jersey’s coast is a priority for the Christie Administration,” said Bob Martin, commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which issued the permits. “The governor is committed to making the state a leader in this new industry, with its environmental and economic benefits. This is a great first step forward in making this a reality for New Jersey.”

The company is now waiting for a wildlife-related permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and a state permit to bring the transmission cable to shore.

Local officials welcomed the project.

“The turbines Fishermen’s Energy will install will be visible from the boardwalk,” said Bruce Ward, Atlantic City’s solicitor. “We’re looking to welcome our visitors to another attraction, if you will.”

Michigan Offshore Wind Ban Bill Sent To Committee

Atlantic City, NJ, a city better known for its boardwalks and casinos, may have a new tourist attraction next year: six wind turbines less than three miles offshore.

Fisherman’s Energy, a New Jersey-based offshore wind developer, has begun the permitting process, and hopes to begin construction in the summer of 2011. If the project progresses according to the company’s timeline, Atlantic City will be host to the nation’s first offshore wind farm in October of 2011.

“We are moving properly and carefully ahead to have the project done by October 2011,” Fisherman’s Energy General Counsel Paul Gallagher told the Atlantic City Weekly.

The project – located in state waters – is the first of two that Fishermen’s Energy has planned for the Atlantic City area.  The second, larger phase would be in federal water.

The proposed wind farm in state water would generate an estimated 20 megawatt (MW) of power. Unlike other offshore wind proposals, the project has received significant local support in Atlantic City and neighboring communities, according to surveys released last year.

The local support may be due to the five-turbine, 7.5 MW onshore wind project built on the premises of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority wastewater treatment plant in 2006. That wind farm has been well received by locals and tourists alike, and has become an integral part of the Atlantic City skyline.

Gallagher hopes that the offshore turbines could become another attraction for a city that derives much of its income from tourism.

“It could be the Sydney Opera House of Atlantic City,” Gallagher told Atlantic City Weekly.

Another factor that could determine the project’s fate is the support of local fisherman. To date, local commercial fisherman have helped finance the project, and some hope to be re-trained to support the delivery of materials, crews and other personnel to the project site.