With offshore wind energy now open for business and milestones continually being reached, the sector is getting set for North America’s premier offshore wind event of the year – the AWEA Offshore WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition.
Given all that’s happened this year in the U.S. offshore arena – and what’s to come in the near future – Offshore WINDPOWER 2013, which takes place Oct. 22-23 in Providence, R.I., promises to be buzzing with activity. The event provides the opportunity to connect with nearly 1,000 offshore wind energy industry professionals coming from across the U.S. and other global markets active in an exciting segment of the wind industry, one that’s poised to take off here in America.
Now mainstream on land, offshore resource ready to be tapped
The wind industry in the United States has experienced tremendous success with over 13,000 megawatts (MW) installed last year and over 60 gigawatts (GW) of cumulative installation. As a result, wind was the number one source of new electric generating capacity last year, and there are currently two states where wind energy is generating more than 20 percent of the electricity and nine states where it is generating more than 10 percent.
However, the United States also has a vast and, as of yet, untapped offshore wind resource which has the potential to supply large amounts of clean power to coastal states, create thousands of jobs, and significantly enhance the U.S. wind energy industry’s supply chain.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) report, 20 percent Wind Energy by 2030, found that offshore wind capacity could provide 54 GW of the 300 GW needed to deliver 20 percent of the United States’ electricity from wind energy by 2030, and state and federal processes for developing this offshore wind resource are well underway.
Several projects are in the advanced stages of development and many important milestones have been achieved.
Turbine in the water. The United States’ first offshore wind turbine, VolturnUS was recently deployed by the University of Maine’s DeepCwind Consortium. The 65-foot, one-eighth-scale model uses an innovative concrete semi-submersible foundation. The second phase of the project will include the deployment of two 6-megawatt direct drive turbines.
Tax credit market drivers in place. An important milestone was achieved in late 2012 when Congress extended the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC, which covers 30 percent of eligible costs, will continue to be critical to the U.S. offshore wind industry because offshore projects are more capital intensive and have longer permitting timelines.
