There is more than enough wind power off the mid-Atlantic coast to power the border states -- from North Carolina to Massachusetts -- providing electricity for heating homes and electrifying vehicles, says Firestone.
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10:09 AM tracy: Hello
jmfirestone: Hi. This is different.
tracy: Agreed
jmfirestone: Okay, then let's talk about offshore wind
tracy: ok great
10:14 AM So let's start with getting some info about you first
what's your title?
where are you at?
And what's your area of research?
jmfirestone: Associate Professor, College of Marine and Earth Studies, University of Delaware
And Senior Research Scientist, Center for Carbon-free Power Integration.
10:15 AM Most
of my research these days is on offshore wind power -- regulation, social
acceptance, wind resource assessment, and integration.
Define Offshore Wind, Please
tracy: ok great10:16 AM So what exactly is meant by "offshore" wind?
jmfirestone: Wind power was traditionally harnessed on land. The wind turbines were placed in the ground.
In 1991, the Europeans for the first time installed a turbine in the sea.
10:17 AM tracy: So offshore means in the sea. Why go there?
10:18 AM jmfirestone: The winds are stronger and more consistent offshore. Also, in some places land is at a premium
In others such as the mid-Atlantic states such as Delaware, we do not have strong land-based winds.
10:19 AM tracy: Why is it important to have stronger, more consistent wind?
10:20 AM jmfirestone: Wind in general is intermittment. More consistent winds and hence wind power is more easily blended into the energy grid.
10:21 AM As
for stronger winds, the power you generate is proportional to the cube
of the wind speed, so I small increase in wind speed, for 7 meters per second to 8 meters per second
can mean a large increase in power production.
tracy: I see.
Location, Location, Location
So when you look at offshore locations, what makes a good location?10:22 AM What characteristics do you look for?
jmfirestone: Well, first off you want to avoid conflicts with other users, so commercial shipping lanes, for example, would be excluded.
10:23 AM Then you are looking at areas that have high wind speeds, and shallow waters -- that is less than 30 meters depth.
10:27 AM tracy: you said that a good location is one
that doesn't conflict with other users
and one that is shallow and has high speed winds
anything else?
10:28 AM jmfirestone: Well you would also be concerned with environmental effects, you might want to avoid, a whale calving ground, for example.
And if the area is protected that is good to.
10:29 AM tracy: protected from storms?
jmfirestone: For example, Nantucket sound offers some protection from storms
10:30 AM tracy:
How does the US potential for offshore wind compare to other
countries? I know that England/Scotland and other parts of Europe are
developing this.
jmfirestone: The United States has very large offshore wind resources that are developable at this time.
Both off the mid-Atlantic and the Great Lakes
10:31 AM The United Kingdom also has very large resources.
The reason for the large resource is not just a lot of ocean, but a gently sloping continental shelf.
tracy: In the Atlantic, right?
jmfirestone: Yes.
Status: Offshore Wind Farms in the United States?
10:32 AM tracy: So do we have any offshore wind farms yet? Or are we still lagging behind Europe? jmfirestone: We do not have any yet,
There are 7 to 8 offshore wind farms planned including one in Delaware
10:33 AM tracy:
Wow! 7 to 8! I know that the Cape Wind folks are trying to push for
something in Nantucket Sound here in Massachusetts. Where are the
others being considered?
jmfirestone: In Delaware, Bluewater Wind signed the first and only agreement in the US to sell offshore wind power with a utility.
10:34 AM There are also three projects off the coast of New Jersey.
NJ Gov Corzine has set a goal of several thousand megawatts of offshore wind.
Rhode Island also has a project as does New York.
10:35 AM
Factoring in the Smart Grid
tracy: I've heard that one of the bigger challenges of getting wind to work on a large scale is getting it connected to the grid, which needs to be smartened up first! Is that true?10:36 AM jmfirestone: A Smarter grid would help, but the existing projects can do fine with the existing grid.
If you are going to have large penetration of wind power, you need a smarter grid.
10:37 AM tracy: But it's cool that the existing grid can accommodate the new projects. I'd like to talk about that a little more.
For example
If you have an offshore wind farm, what needs to happen to get that electricity from the farm to the grid?
10:38 AM jmfirestone: You have a cable that brings the power to shore.
The underwater cable would be part of the wind power project.
It then connects to a shore-based cable.
tracy: And that just feeds into the grid?
10:39 AM jmfirestone: Yes
There are some places that are better to go to shore than others because of existing grid infrastructure
10:41 AM tracy:
Ok, but what about this notion of consistency that we talked about
briefly? Aren't offshore wind farms still going to experience some ups
and downs in terms of energy production? And if so, how does the "dumb"
grid deal with that? Or maybe I should ask, "How do utility companies
deal with that?"
10:42 AM jmfirestone:
There are large grid operators with names that no one have ever heard
of like PJM that balance the load instantaneously for many states at
the same time.
So as the wind dies down, they are ready to send other sources of electricity on to the grid.
Some natural gas plants are on what is known as spinning reserves.
10:43 AM They are on, but not generating electricity.
They can be switched to generate electricity at a moment's notice.
tracy: I see
Biggest Challenges
So what, in your opinion, are some of the big challenges of developing offshore wind?
10:44 AM jmfirestone: The technology is well-established.
I think the immediate challenges relate more to siting.
We don't have any history of having an established projects and so issues such as avian impacts, etc., dominate the discussion.
10:45 AM tracy: But don't other countries have a history of projects that we can learn from?
jmfirestone: Yes, but our laws are different.
10:46 AM And for the most part, the projects have been developed in the North Sea. Here, we have a different beach culture.
10:47 AM tracy: So of the U.S. wind farm projects that you mentioned earlier, which one(s) are closest to being finished? (or started?)
10:48 AM jmfirestone:
The two that are closest are Cape Wind, which is closing to gaining a
permit, and Bluewater Wind, which has a 25-year contract.
A long-term contract is crucial because the upfront costs are so large. $1 billion!
tracy: yikes!
jmfirestone: You need it in order to get financing
10:49 AM But the beauty is is that unlike fossil fuel plants there is no fuel cost.
Another issue that we need to address here in the United States is logistics
10:50 AM These machines are very large. 450 feet to the tip of the blade and they have to be placed in 20 to 30 meters of water.
And pounded into the sea floor.
You need specialized vessels to install.
You need port facilities to stage the installation.
10:51 AM There are many component parts, so there is much to do.
tracy: Do you know if any of these challenges are going to be addressed with stimulus package monies?
10:52 AM jmfirestone: Possibly, we will have to wait and see. New items are coming out of the Department of Energy weekly.
Is Wind In Our Future?
10:53 AM tracy:
Do you think that at some point in the future the United States will be getting a
significant portion of its energy from wind? Or will it always remain a
low number of the total percentage?
10:54 AM jmfirestone: It will be a very large fraction; how much I do not know. It will mostly depend on whether solar costs come down.
But, it is worth noting that there is more than enough wind power off of the mid-Atlantic
to power the border states (NC to MA) not just with electricity
10:55 AM but with power for heat and for electrifying vehicles.
10:56 AM tracy: I read somewhere that we have a worldwide wind potential that's the equiv of 54,000 million tons of oil per year
a study from Stanford University
jmfirestone: That figure may be correct. Could not say off the top of my head.
10:57 AM But our offshore wind resources in the Atlantic dwarf our oil and gas resources in the Atlantic.
tracy: That's amazing and gives me hope.
I wanted to ask about this comment you made:
It will be a very large fraction; how much I do not know. It will mostly depend on whether solar costs come down.
why does it depend on whether solar costs come down?
10:58 AM jmfirestone:
Well, if solar comes down, it will be more competitive with wind. If it
does not, than solar will not be as competitive with wind.
11:02 AM tracy: Just a few more questions.
Why are you working in the area of offshore wind?
jmfirestone: I got started working on offshore wind power six years ago because of
11:03 AM concerns
about climate change and because I have long been concerned about human
health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel generation.
11:04 AM tracy: How long is it going to take before any of those wind farms are going to be putting energy into the grid? 10 years? 20 years?
In your lifetime??
jmfirestone: Yes, unless my lifetime is very short. I would think 2012 or 2013.
11:05 AM tracy: oh wow
that's not too far away
jmfirestone: Yes, although, I wish it were sooner.
tracy: And in short term, what are you working on specifically?
Public Preferences
11:06 AM jmfirestone: We have undertaken surveys of public preferences and opinions in Cape Cod and Delaware.
And we have undertaken a tourist study as well.
11:07 AM This summer we will survey a second time residents of Cape Cod and Delaware on their opinions on offshore wind power.
Social acceptance is very important when you are considering a new technology.
tracy: What are you finding so far? Can you say?
Trends either way?
11:08 AM jmfirestone: Well, in Cape Cod, which we surveyed in 2005, we found the public split, with slightly more opposed.
In Delaware, in late 2006, we found a public very supportive. 78 percent in favor; only 4 percent opposed.
Four percent will be opposed to anything.
tracy: ha
I didn't know that
11:09 AM but sounds like you have good support in DE
That's great, I think.
I'll be looking forward to more survey results
jmfirestone: As will I. We learn a lot about people and about how to communicate with the public.
And where the public has good information and where it has bad information.
11:10 AM tracy: Interesting. Sounds great!
Well, I won't take up any more of your time.
It's been super informative "chatting" with you.
jmfirestone: Its been my pleasure. Thank you for introducing me to the world of chat.
11:11 AM tracy: Cheers
jmfirestone: Okay. Cheers. Jeremy
Jeremy Firestone is an associate professor at the College of Marine and Earth Studies and a senior research scientist for the Center for Carbon-free Power Integration at the University of Delaware, where he teaches courses on wind power and climate change policy. Professor Firestone helped organize the first AWEA Offshore Wind Power Workshop and was also the lead citizen participant in recent administrative proceedings that lead to the first offshore wind power purchase agreement in the United States.
Tags: Climate Change, Earth, Electricity, Energy Production, Europe,
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