OFFSHORE WIND
Hywind Scotland is the world’s first floating offshore wind park
Favorable
Breeze By Shirley Del Valle, Managing Editor
East Coast States Look to a Future Powered by Offshore Wind
Statoil/ Øyvind Gravås
O
ffshore wind, long an elusive dream for the U.S., is finally picking up speed. The sector has the potential to be a key driver for job growth, investment and innovation, and would be a welcomed breath of fresh air for the shipbuilding industry. The market has become more of a possibility thanks to the advancements in technologies by European-based companies that have spearheaded the offshore movement for the last two decades. All this innovative work on the European front has helped project costs go down and enabled offshore wind farms to spring up in a variety of forms and bodies of water. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) states that roughly 80% of the U.S. electricity demand comes from coastal states—so it makes sense that states on the coast like Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey are leading the charge when it comes to implementing offshore wind plans for their respective states. Among the DOE’s most notably funded projects is the New England Aqua Ventus I by the University of Maine. The demonstration project is a 12 MW floating offshore wind project comprised of two 6 MW
turbines on VolturnUS, a floating concrete semi-submersible hull designed by the University of Maine (UMaine). According to the school, the hull and turbine are held in position by three marine mooring lines that are anchored to the seabed. The electrical generation will be connected by subsea cable to the Maine power grid on shore. UMaine expects all permits to be obtained this year with fabrication of the VolturnUS platform occurring next year. The goal is to have the project operational by 2020. Another project funded by the DOE is the Lake Erie Offshore Wind Icebreaker Project, Icebreaker Windpower, Inc., led by Lake Erie’s Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) in partnership with Fred. Olsen Renewables. The project is the first offshore wind facility in the Great Lakes and the first freshwater wind farm in North America. Icebreaker Wind will use a Mono Bucket solution developed by Universal Foundation, a Fred. Olsen company, which combines the benefits of a gravity base, a monopile and a suction bucket. The use of the Mono Bucket will make it so that no pile driving is needed—reducing both the cost and environmental impact, says LEEDCo’s Director of Sustainable Development, Beth A. Nagusky.
Instead, the solution uses a suction pump to reach the desired depth, explains President of LEEDCo, Dr. Lorry Wagner—once there the Mono Bucket is equalized into ambient pressure level and becomes solidly embedded onto the seabed. The installation process is also a fast one, he adds, with installation happening in less than half a day. The project is currently in the thick of the permitting process with its federal permits on track. On the state level, however, LEEDCo is currently waiting on a state permit from the Ohio Power Sighting Board. According to Nagusky, the permit application was filed roughly 14 months ago with the Board on February 2017. If Icebreaker Wind is allowed to reach its full potential, it could create over 500 jobs and provide a $168 million economic impact over the project’s 25 year life. And further create up to 8,000 new jobs in the Northeast Ohio region and potentially inject $14 billion into the economy—with room for more once the industry grows.
A Revolution in Massachusetts American offshore wind developer and the operator of Block Island Wind Farm, the only offshore wind farm operating in the U.S., Deepwater Wind is kick starting its April 2018 // Marine Log 37