The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has launched a grant program to support the development of offshore wind energy. The Market Entry Assistance Grant Program is the first program born of the Offshore Wind Business Development Fund. The fund is designed to help Maryland businesses become participants in the state’s offshore wind industry. MEA will issue grants to support the immediate …
West Coast Offshore Wind Project Moves Ahead
The first offshore wind project proposed for federal waters off the West Coast has just taken a big step forward. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined by Governor John Kitzhaber and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau, announced that BOEM has given the green light for Principle Power, Inc. to submit a formal plan to …
Deepwater Wind Selects Alstom Technology
Alstom has announced a contract to supply 5 Haliade 150-6 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbines for Deepwater Wind’s 30-MW Block Island pilot Wind Farm located off the coast of Rhode Island. The project will be one of the first offshore wind farms in the U.S. and will be the first to feature Alstom’s Haliade 150-6 MW –the largest turbine installed …
Despite Record Offshore Wind Projects, Industry Slows
Despite record offshore wind energy projects coming online in 2013, a recent report shows that new projects have slowed. Last year, 418 offshore turbines came online in Europe making a record 1,567 Megawatts (MW) of new capacity. This is one-third more than the capacity installed in 2012. This makes a new total of 6,562 MW of offshore wind power – …
Cape Wind Wins Again
Cape Wind has again defeated the efforts of its opponents to block the country’s first offshore wind farm. In a historic decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the FAA’s approval of the Cape Wind project, rejecting every argument that had been advanced by the project’s opponents. “The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the …
EU Guidelines Undermine Renewable Energy
The European Commission proposes putting an end to differentiated support for renewable technologies such as onshore and offshore wind in its consultation of draft State aid guidelines for energy and the environment published this week according to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). This would effectively stop Member States from determining their own energy mix – a fundamental principle of …
China’s Offshore Wind Power Industry on Track
During the 18th Congress of Chinese Communist Party meeting, a call was made to create a “Biological Civilization” strategy that would encompass a plan for more use of green energy including offshore wind. On June 4-6, 2014 Offshore Wind China 2014, Wind Farm O&A China 2014 and Distributed Generation China 2014 are simultaneously taking place at the Shanghai New International …
Staggering Wind Turbines Produces More Energy
According to the University of Delaware’s Cristina Archer and her Atmosphere and Energy Research Group, staggering and spacing out turbines in an offshore wind farm can improve performance by as much as 33 percent. The findings, which appeared in Geophysical Research Letters, could help engineers plan improved offshore wind farms. “Staggering every other row was amazingly efficient,” said Archer, associate …
S.C. Opens Largest Wind Energy Testing Facilities
The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman recently joined with officials from Clemson University to dedicate the nation’s largest and one of the world’s most advanced wind energy testing facilities in North Charleston, S.C. Led by Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, the facility will help test and validate new turbines, particularly for offshore wind – helping to speed deployment of …
Natural Power Expands Operations
Rt Hon Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, recently opened Natural Power’s newly expanded ControlCentre at their global headquarters, The Green House, located in the foothills of Rhinns of Kells in rural Dumfries and Galloway. The company’s NP/ControlCentre (previously known as WindCentre) is a 24/7/365 operational control room, providing site management services round the clock for …