NOIA sees positive signs for tapping energy off Massachusetts

The National Ocean Industries Association applauds the US Department of the Interior’s recent Request for Interest concerning renewable leasing off Massachusetts and the availability of the commercial lease for the Cape Wind offshore wind project.

“I applaud Secretary [Ken] Salazar’s forward movement…on offshore renewable energy,” NOIA President Randall Luthi said in a news release. “It is gratifying to see the publication of the commercial lease for the Cape Wind project, which has undergone extensive studies, reviews, and litigation this past decade.”

Luthi sees the Request for Interest “as a positive indicator that there will indeed be more such leases to come. “

Acknowledging that offshore wind energy eventually will be helpful to the overall US energy supply, Luthi noted that analysts and others anticipate that it will be decades before offshore renewables “make a real dent in the domestic energy demand.”

Luithi encourages Salazar to commit himself “equally, if not more so, to the efficient and timely permitting for offshore oil and gas projects that will produce energy now and provide more jobs today.”

In November 2010, Cape Wind announced its first buyer. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved a contract in which Cape Wind plans to sell half of its power to National Grid, the state's largest electric utility.

Some see offshore wind power picking up

UK-based analyst Douglas-Westwood Ltd. said the offshore wind industry is showing growth with record levels of capacity now under construction. The benefits are that wind farms in deep ocean waters would not ruin beachside views, but the drawbacks are the costs. As the offshore oil industry already knows, expenses in general tend to increase in deeper, more distant waters.

In a report entitled “World Offshore Wind Report 2009-13,” Douglas-Westwood said 6.6 Gw of new capacity is expected to be installed globally within 5 years. That compares with 1.5 Gw of capacity now online.

The UK is dominant with 3 Gw of new capacity forecast to be added through 2013. Douglas-Westwood said. Germany is seen as the second biggest player, installing more than 1.5 Gw of capacity during that same period.

“The US has made great progress through the new administration to establishing the necessary mechanisms to allow offshore wind projects to be developed,” Douglas-Westwood said. “Supply chain development must now follow suit, and work is needed in procurement, installation, and logistics.”

So far, the US has no wind farm operating off its coasts. It’s been suggested that wind farms could provide power for offshore oil and gas operations, but time will tell whether that actually materializes on any grand scale, particularly off the US.