Generating lift | Wind energy needs broad public support
Senior attorney at Bernstein Shur, permitting manager for the DeepCwind Consortium and president of the American College of Environmental Lawyers
This summer in Maine, we have seen warm, sunny days and near-drought conditions. But remember only two years ago, rising oil prices led to a heating state of emergency in Maine, with crude oil prices reaching $147 per barrel, and gasoline and heating oil prices rising to over $4 per gallon. About 80% of Maine homes use heating oil and, without aggressive measures now, the cost of energy could reach 40% of the typical Maine family’s household income by 2018. Annually, Maine exports over $5 billion out of state and overseas for the purchase of fossil fuels.
These conditions present both a serious challenge to, as well as a significant opportunity for, Maine’s economy. Preliminary steps are under way for Maine to become a national and international leader in deep-water, offshore wind power generation — a move that could boost Maine’s economic development by $20 billion over the next 20 years while dramatically reducing our carbon footprint.
The University of Maine-led DeepCwind Consortium is proposing to change energy use in Maine during a 20-year effort to develop a 5-gigawatt deepwater wind-energy industry. One gigawatt roughly equals the output of one nuclear power plant.
Maine currently uses about 2.4 gigawatts of electricity at peak use. To benefit from the vast potential of the Gulf of Maine, the goal would be to convert some current fossil fuel consumption to electricity consumption — for example, by switching to electric heat pumps for residential and commercial buildings and to plug-in electric hybrid vehicles — as well as exporting energy to the continually growing markets of southern New England and New York.
In June 2009, Gov. John Baldacci signed a law authorizing the state to select up to five offshore wind test sites, with one designated for University of Maine research south of Monhegan Island. The legislation also established detailed state permitting requirements. As the permitting attorney for the DeepCwind Consortium efforts, my task is to help the project navigate state and federal regulatory requirements with the aim of deploying the first test turbine platform at the site by early 2012. Present planning is to design, build, deploy and test a one-third scale floating wind turbine prototype for part of the year.
In June, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a collaborative effort among 10 East Coast states to develop commercial wind power on the Outer Continental Shelf. As part of that effort, this summer Maine and the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement have been working on a pilot project to develop and implement a three-year process for environmental review and siting of advanced, deep-water wind energy technologies.
Phase 2 of the plan (2012-2014) is the design, construction, deployment and testing of the first full-scale deep-water floating wind turbine prototype in the Gulf of Maine. For each of Phases 1 and 2, the project is estimated to create 125 jobs per year.
Assuming their success, Phase 3, projected for 2014-2016, would involve 320 jobs per year for the design, construction, deployment and testing of the first 25 MW stepping-stone floating wind farm in the world, located 10 or more miles offshore.
Looking down the road, Phase 4, planned for 2018-2020, will expand the stepping-stone farm into a 500-1,000 MW commercial farm in federal waters, with 4,500 jobs per year created. And Phase 5, planned for 2020-2030, involves constructing a network of four to eight offshore commercial floating farms, each with 50-1000 MW of capacity totaling 4,000 MW capacity.
The DeepCwind Consortium, with over 30 member companies and groups, is working hard to make these goals a reality. Maine is the only place in the United States working on deepwater offshore wind energy, but others, including Massachusetts with its Cape Wind project, are focused on shallow (less than 60-foot deep) projects. Not only is Maine the only state receiving federal dollars for deep-water offshore development, but it is one of the only places in the world moving forward with technology and turbine testing of what is the most globally significant ocean energy resource.
But the first step of any journey is the most important, and during the regulatory review process for DeepCwind’s test-site, strong public support is essential. These initiatives will help to reduce our high energy costs, grow our manufacturing industries and add up to 15,000 high-quality manufacturing, research and other jobs to sustain current Maine residents, while securing long-term increased employment opportunities for the future as well.
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