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First US Offshore Wind Power Park In Delaware
Dekortage writes "Offshore wind power company Bluewater Wind has announced an agreement to build America's first offshore wind turbine park off the coast of Delaware. 'Each turbine [will sit on] a pole about 250 feet above the waterline... the units are to be constructed to withstand hurricane-force winds. From the shore, the park will be visible only on clear winter days, and the turbines will be nearly invisible during summer months when Rehoboth Beach fills with vacationers. Each blade on the three-blade rotor is to be 150 feet long.' The wind farm will power 50,000 homes in Delaware, using about half of its capacity."
The wind farm will power 50,000 homes in Delaware
Lies. There are no homes in Delaware. Ask yourself, do you know anyone from Delaware?
I thought not.
Delaware is a plot between the banking industry and the DuPonts to get a few free Senators. Don't believe the lies.
According to TFA there are also tourists.
But that only begs the question...who would go to Delaware for a vacation?
My family usually makes a trip every year to Bethany Beach, which is just a bit south of Rehoboth Beach. While I understand that it's better for most tourists if the turbines are not visible, it'd be cool if we could make it into a real-life science "field trip" for the kids sometime in the future.
Are there any plans for something like a small boat trip to see them up close? Maybe they could build a museum?
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
All the states around the great lakes could use these as well. What surprises me, is that if you have the pole there, then why not add in tidal or even wave power as well? I believe that the expensive part about all this, is getting anchored securely to the floor.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
And I agree with everything you said.
I was afraid that the US would be losing out on the fundamentals of actually deploying such alternative energy setups. While I don't suspect wind power will be the answer to anything much more than maybe 5% of the world's power needs, we WILL need the engineering and technical know-how. Either we can get in on this stuff early and have our people (And by our people I am well aware some may be from other countries, bust most will stay in the US) gain the expertise and be home-grown, and thus, ultimately contribute to our society, culture or economy, or we would have to rely on experts from other countries almost exclusively, and end up being at the mercy of foreign nationals.
This would be an ideal opportunity to track the total cost of installation and management vs. the total cost for an equivalent 'traditional' power plant.
I wonder if it would be feasible to use the base upon which the turbines sit to put in place tidal generators as well.
What state is Delaware in? Isn't it just a county South of Philadelphia? The wind power will be used to keep the chickens cool in the summer, and warm in the winter, because everybody knows, nobody lives in delaware except the Banks,Duponts, and Chicken Farms (Tyson, Purdue, etc)
Technical data here...
Bluewater Wind agrees to build a 150 turbine, 450MW wind project 12-13 miles off of Rehoboth Beach. Delmarva Power agrees to buy up to 300MW at any one time. The cost to Delmarva ratepayers for energy and capacity will be 10.56 cents/kWh in 2007 dollars. Delmarva is also purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) associated with its energy purchases.
So evidently these are 150 x 3MW turbines. Generally turbines of this class have a blade space diameter of 100m.
It is interesting to note that while Delaware has no nuclear reactors, it is across the river from the Salem dual 1.1 MWe PWRs and the co-located Hope Creek 1.0 MWe BWR in New Jersey, for a total of 3.2 MWe of nuclear in the neighborhood.
$1280/home/year is only about $107/home/month - that's close to what my electric bill is now (although I live in Texas, not Delaware). Doesn't really sound like they have a long way to go, cost-wise.
I'd actually like the reminder that we are doing something like this. I can already see coal-fired power plants from the freeway, why is it a positive thing that something like this, which doesn't belch black smoke, can only been seen? You don't want the tourists to know that you're for a cleaner environment?
I stole this sig from a more creative user.
You have an excellent point...
However, electricity has tripled in the last 20 years from 5.3 to 16~ish cents. Assuming in the next 20 years, it does the same... then 1,280 would be roughly $430 adjusted for inflation- which will be a huge bargain.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
There's a beach at Dewey? I only thought there were bars there. Who knew.
They're not answered anywhere on the company's website or in the article...
The answers to these questions are important when determining whether this project is worthy of support or not:
Who is paying to build the windfarm?
Who gets to keep the profit from the windfarm?
For the windfarm they wanted to build around here, the answers were "me" (through tax dollars), and "not me" (as in some private corporation got to keep the profit, even though they didn't pay for the initial investment). Luckily a sufficient number of people were able to see that they were getting screwed through the veil of "environmental responsibility" in order to get the project canceled.
wow, I'm surprised California hasn't jumped in to do it first. Suddenly I feel so....environmentally unsound.
Affordable Health Coverage
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Furthermore, this is only half the capacity. In theory they can sell their surplus to other utility companies.
I actually live in Delaware, and for those fools who aren't in the know, Delaware has some of the lowest property taxes in the area, good rail transit, and good gun laws.
Now, the windmill battle in Delaware was an EPIC battle. On one side, you had the utility that wanted to build a gas turbine, and on the other side, you had the windmill people.
The backdrop is that the utility already doubled rates because of rising fuel prices, and the state was already importing a great deal of energy at spot (read high) prices. To work around this, the state needed its own generation.
Now, the utility wanted to build a new gas turbine facility, because the capital costs were pretty cheap and they had enterprise experience with both operating and constructing them. The windmill people wanted a windmill farm, and, they probably would have lost on merits of costs, because the windmills are nearly twice as expensive as a cheap gas turbine station. However, I think what's happened is that, between everyone being so spooked by the perpetually rising fuel costs, and, a newly enacted state sustainability law, they more or less had to build the wind mill.
It will be cool if it works, but I'm cynically betting on rolling blackouts on calm, hot summer days.
This is my sig.
Living in Delaware definitely has its perks. Blue crabs, the beaches, pumpkin' chunkin' festivals , scrapple (mmm!). Also, fans of craft beer will note that Dogfish Head is brewed there too.
[1] http://www.bluewaterwind.com/de_overview.htm
[2] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/10000.html
From "Small Wonder" to "Don't Blink". But for the hundreds of State Troopers on I-95 making up the State's entire budget, you could drive through Delaware in about 6 minutes.
The hub is 250 feet up.
The blades are 150 feet long.
Therefore the tip of the blades will be 150 feet from the hub...At the low point it will be 100 feet above the water. At the high point it will be 400 feet above the water.
You are caculating with a constant price for electric energy, but as the past years tought all of us, thus would be insane.
.
So you should basicly add the inflationary process to your caculations,
which is citing wikipedia[1] 3.9 %.
On the other hand the price for primary energy sources like nuclear fuel, natural gas and
most important coal, will unlikely decrease, they will rise,
And one word to the insane costs, when nuclear power plants are built the prices are nearly
the same, nuclear powerplants (as far as I know from germany) have a return of invest of ~25 years
after that they "produce" money, convetional power plants ~20 years, with usage of exhaust heat
perhaps less.
And while time goes on if a technology is used, it will get cheaper.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA
The wind farm will be several miles out from the beach, so on a non-hazy day you will be able to make out a few toothpicks sticking up out of the water. Big deal, there are more ugly planes (with annoying banners!) and boats that go by all the time that look much bigger.
I've listened to a lot of conservative talk radio and the one apparent constant is the negative attitude toward wind power. I don't get it.
USA needs to be going full bore with wind power. So what if it only contributes a fraction of the power we need. Any additional source of power is good and worth it if the energy return is positive. Off-shore wind power strikes me as a great alternative to the concerns regarding land-based wind power. Concerns such as overcoming NIMBY resistance, ugly-ling up the landscape, discouraging tourism, etc.
So, what's the deal with the politiking? When you face a problem, you attack that problem on all flanks, which for this problem means investing in all forms of safe, eco-friendly energy. Sometimes that means legislating enticing incentives and direct funding by the government for solutions which cannot immediately generate profits, but would over time if initially invested.
F the politics.
Camping on quad since 1996.
I've been saying the same thing for a long time. I'm pretty sure Mr. Newton got his laws right--IIRC, if we pull energy from the wind, doesn't that mean the wind has less energy? What are the long-term impacts upon the climate? No. Wait. Its not oil. It MUST be good for the environment.
Delaware, first to ratificate the constitution, first to have an US offshore wind power park.
What a briljant state!
The energy extracted compared to the total energy in the system is so small it becomes moot.
Coding with assembly is like playing with Legos. Coding an application in assembly is like building a car with Legos.
What could the long term affects be, other than those caused by the actual manufacturing of the turbine itself? Someone else on Slashdot, way back, suggested that if we wanted to see the affect of covering an entire continent with wind power generators, look at the affect the massive tree growth in Europe had on wind. The end result will be the same. That is to say, there won't be any problems. Wind power is just a strange form of Solar power. As long as there are temperature differentials between areas (caused by the sun) as well as other affects, there will be wind regardless of what we put in the way.
It's interesting to note that most of the wind maps agree that offshore is the best place to stick a wind turbine. If you've ever stood by the ocean, there's always a stiff sea breeze coming from the ocean onto the land.
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
They're on the metric system, so clearly they're not going to be able to interface with the rest of country, as we all use foot-volts and hertz per yard.
during the summer there is more water vapor in the air and the resulting haze limits the distance you can see.
Is that why they banned sail ships and replaced them with steam ships?
I grew up there (and now live in Houston -- from a job I got on Slashdot no less).
Rehobeth is a beautiful area -- Delaware's #1 industry is tourism believe-it-or-not -- and it's just plain smart of them not to have them visible. Since the state is geologically a sand bar, the beaches are extremely nice and it's not a huge tourist hotspot like Florida or Jersey. They've got a decent sized park nearby (Cape Henlopen) where you can walk from forest to beach and take a dip if you want without all those pesky tourists.
Just reminds me of driving home from my last job and having a reasonably priced pint at Arena's.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
There's also more wind away from the coast. It would be cheaper to build it on land, but it also wouldn't produce as much power.
That's easy to beat. I had a girlfriend once. Of course, you wouldn't know her. She moved in Canada.
Plus, they'd have to have their captain steer around them while out on their yachts.
Layne
Can anyone enlighten me as to how offshore platforms such as in TFA will be able to withstand such a corrosive environment while remaining cost effective?
I wonder if people bitched so much back when the Coast Guard was going around putting up lighthouses everywhere.
Now, some of the most expensive property on Cape Ann, MA is the coastline where the lighthouses are visible. They're considered picturesque; hell, more than that, they're 'romantic seacoast' to the point of being cliched.
We just need the political will to ram the wind-power projects through, and in a few years they'll just be another part of the landscape. A few generations, and people will be putting together comprehensive coffee-table books on "Wind Turbines of the Northeast U.S."
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
that's close to what my electric bill is now
Why does everyone seem to think I was saying this would be the electric costs/month?
This isn't the cost to produce electricity, nor the cost it will sell at. It's JUST the cost to produce the plant divided over 25 years. Maintenance, transmission, and any overhead aren't included.
The cost of the actual electricity is a totally different number. The point here is that the construction costs alone are VERY high.
AccountKiller
Hear hear!
I've often wondered what the objection is as well. --Having seen acres of white windmills, I can honestly say I was filled with pride at the sight. They were actually quite beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint. Without making any judgments about other forms of power generation, compare the simple aesthetics of wind power to the gray cooling towers associated with nuclear power, or the toxic smokestacks from coal burning plants.
I think the complaints are almost more grudging responses to the implication that we have been in some ways irresponsible and dirty as a culture with respect to our approach to power generation. Because people don't like to feel guilty, they choose instead to sneer at and complain about alternative solutions. --Or perhaps they are squeamish about things they register as being, "Touchey-Feeley", (like a grade school kid being afraid of cooties. "Caring about the environment is GAAAAAY! EEEWWW!"), and so they react in the same way.
Don't laugh. I know far too many grown men who are emotionally still stuck in Jr. High. While this kind of behavior is more prevalent among geeks than the gen pop, there appears to be a counter-balance in effect; that is, some of the most enlightened people I've ever met are also geeks, and their enlightenment derives exactly through geekdom. Geeks are extremists.
-FL