Offshore gets the green light

Many may have thought it would never happen but now finally, after a lengthy delay, the US looks set to realize the benefits of offshore wind power. We may still have a long way to go to catch up with, and indeed to challenge, our European counterparts, but if we act positively now this move could revolutionize the country’s energy supply …
So just why has it taken the US quite so long to catch up with the thinking of our friends across the Atlantic and actually realize the very real benefits of offshore wind power? In Denmark, for instance, E.ON has recently opened its offshore wind farm, Rosand II. Lying between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland and with a capacity of 207MW, the new farm should provide enough clean, renewable energy for a staggering 200,000 homes. E.ON obviously saw the benefits of this technology of the future, since it saw fit to invest some €400m in Rosand II – just one of many such projects throughout the continent.
So why the delays this side of the pond? Partly this has been undoubtedly due to a simple lack of foresight – the fear of the unknown, a phobia which we all fall prone to at some time or another. Then there was the question of the uncertainly surrounding climate change legislation from the Senate. All in all, it was starting to look like we would be left behind for ever. Then the ideological change came – starting on the Eastern Seaboard.
With approval granted for the enormous Cape Wind project off the Massachusetts coast, following a 10-year struggle, the Department of the Interior has now signed a crucially significant agreement with 10 East Coast states to establish the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium, promoting the development of wind resources in the area. The agreement was recently signed between Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and state governors of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
This consortium will now develop a systematic scheme to streamline offshore projects spanning several states at a time, optimizing inter-state expertise and attempting to ease the red tape difficulties between state and federal authorities. So let’s add some statistics to see what all this might mean to the average American citizen.