In a bid to show its support for the propagation of wind energy resources, the government is allotting a $50.5 million budget to finance offshore wind initiatives as another step toward a national wind energy development strategy.
The Interior and Energy departments, headed by their respective Secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu, informed the public of an inter-agency strategic plan intended to speed up offshore wind energy deployment projects and spur the use of the renewable energy source.
The initiative, called a “Strategic Work Plan,” is expected to address three major concerns in the development of wind energy: the relatively high cost of offshore wind energy; technical challenges surrounding installation, operations, and grid interconnection; and the lack of site data and experience with project permitting processes.
Mr. Chu said that of the $50.5 million budget allocation for the five-year program, $25 million will be used for technology development of wind turbine design tools and hardware; $18 million will go to environmental research and studies of factors limiting the deployment of offshore wind and the elimination of such factors; and $7.5 million will serve as funding for the development and refinement of next-generation designs for wind turbine drivetrains, a core technology required for cost-effective offshore wind power.
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“Offshore wind energy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify our energy supply, and stimulate economic revitalization,» said Mr. Chu.
For his part, Mr. Salazar said the program also serves to aid job generation and stimulate economic growth.
«Through the Strategic Work Plan, the United States is synchronizing new research and development initiatives with more efficient, forward-thinking planning so that we can help quickly stand up an American offshore wind industry.»
On a related development, the Interior department has identified four Wind Energy Areas offshore eligible for early environmental reviews to help fast-track review, leasing and approval of offshore wind turbine facilities – as early as late 2011 or early 2012.
The areas in the mid-Atlantic, which are identified as part of the Interior department’s “Smart from the Start” program announced in November 2010, are as follows: the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Delaware (122 square nautical miles), Maryland (207), New Jersey (417) and Virginia (165).
The Interior department expects two more Wind Energy Areas in March, this time in the North Atlantic states including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, followed by North Carolina this spring, Mr. Salazar said.
These wind energy development schemes are expected to help meet President Barack Obama’s recently-announced goal of generating 80 percent of America’s energy from renewable sources by 2035, the secretaries said.
