Offshore wind could supply 10% of Virginia energy demand
Virginia wind energy stands tall on the vanguard of solutions to wrest America from the grips of dependence on foreign sources of energy. A new report from the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium says that a mammoth offshore wind farm could generate 10% of Virginia’s electricity before the end of this decade.
According to the Consortium’s report, a 600 megawatt offshore wind farm 12 miles off Virginia’s coast and comprised of hundreds of turbines could be operational as early as 2016, but more likely by 2018.
Virginia took the first crucial steps to bring this promising opportunity to fruition this winter, when the General Assembly created the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. While the federal government will ultimately lease the roughly 25 identified plots to private developers, the Virginia offshore wind authority was created to expedite the process by allowing the state to decide which companies will apply for the federal leases. Legislators hope this arrangement will circumvent the exhaustively protracted federal process of selecting private developers, a process that can take more than 2 years if there is more than one applicant for the leases. Three major renewable energy companies have already expressed interest in pursuing the leases.
In addition to quantifying Virginia’s sizable offshore wind potential, the report also eliminated two potential stumbling blocks that could have stymied the ambitious project. According to the report, the proposed farm would not interfere with Navy training grounds or NASA activities off Virginia’s coast. ”[The Department of Defense] is happy with what we proposed,” the Consortium’s executive director Patrick Hatcher told the Daily Press.
