Tuesday - June 24, 2008

Less Than a Day to show Hansen is an idiot

Yesterday it was “Special interests have blocked the transition to our renewable energy future,” from NASA’s Dr. Hansen. Oh noes, Big Oil is slamming the door on us all!!!!111!! Today ...

A contract to build what is being called the nation’s first offshore field of wind turbines was announced Monday between a Delaware utility company and a firm that is to build the generators off the Atlantic coast.  Officials from Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind announced details of the contract at a news conference Monday in Newark, Delaware.

Bluewater spokesman Jim Lanard said the power company will get about 16 percent of its electricity from a field of 150 wind turbines, anchored in the seafloor about a dozen miles off Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

The contract with Delmarva would use less than half the projected generating capacity the energy park is expected to have when completed. The rest would be sold to other customers.

The project’s cost is estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a project official with Bluewater.  The offshore site is expected to be operational within four years, but the timing depends on how quickly regulatory agencies can review and approve the construction project.

Using electricity generated by the wind, “Delmarva Power will be able to light about 50,000 homes a year, every year” for the duration of the 25-year contract, Lanard said, with first power expected by 2012.  He said the project may help stabilize consumer energy costs, since the contract locks in the price Delmarva will pay per kilowatt-hour.

Bluewater previously established an offshore “energy park” operating off Denmark.

Each turbine in the Delaware project is to sit on a pole about 250 feet above the waterline, where the ocean is about 75 feet deep. The poles are to extend 90 feet into the seafloor, and 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, Lanard said.

Each blade on the three-blade rotor is to be 150 feet long.

I think this is very interesting. First, because Bluewater says the project is good to power 100,000 homes not the 50,000 stated here. Next, because this is the Free Market at work. Delmarva is going to sell off most of the power generated. I ran some numbers, and if Bluewater’s generation claims are accurate, then Delmarva Power can turn a profit even if the project has a 350% cost overrun and needs waaay more maintenance than anticipated. And that’s the real bottom line: if Delaware can make money with wind power, you had better believe New Jersey and all the other coastal states will be planting these things ASAP. And if Delmarva Power can sell off half the power produced at market rate, while selling the rest to their customers at cost , then they can make an extra $42 million a year. Not too bad. The other interesting bit is that the project cost includes dismantling they whole thing at the end of 25 years. Why? Will the pylons be worn out by then?

And since the pylons in this project are a dozen miles out at sea ... out into the tidal currents or the Gulf Stream perhaps? So I’m wondering if they should just go ahead and hook some tidal generators on to the base of each pylon? I spent an hour or so looking into them, and it looks like they can do the job if the water is moving at a whole 4mph. Every volt in the bucket helps, right? Especially since South Korea, Scotland, and a couple of the Scandinavian countries are willing to be the guinea pigs for that one.

Is that what’s really holding things back, Dr. Hansen? Industry’s “Very dangerous. You go first” risk aversion policy? Not eviiil Big Oil after all? Butt head.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/24/2008 at 01:07 PM   
Filed Under: • Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices •  
• Comments (8) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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