Smart Grid Renewables: Virginia Gets Aggressive About Wind

Atlantic coast offshore wind power initiatives were until recently limited to one or two, and the resource wasn't taken seriously as part of the Smart Grid renewable energy effort. Now five of the nine East Coast states are working toward offshore wind projects. While National Grid has negotiated to buy offshore wind power from at least one proposed project, other utilities might look at this buildup in interest as a wake-up call.

 

An aggressive Virginia wind power coalition says the state, particularly Hampton Roads, is the ideal candidate to be the hub of the offshore wind industry for the Atlantic coast. The Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition (VOW) has been aggressively hunting up political support and industry partners.

 

VOW seems to be doing a good job of it. It has support from major players in the local maritime industry and its membership includes local governments and the Virginia Port Authority, among others. The coalition also has gotten at least a nibble of interest from Virginia Dominion Power, which obviously would gain if VOW succeeds.

 

"We're hopeful to become the Silicon Valley of wind for the East Coast," Virginia Beach assistant city manager told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

 

It's not just the lure of the potential for huge amounts of green energy for the Smart Grid, it's just as much or more about the potential for economic development and the staggering investments offshore wind power projects would require.

 

VOW also is taking a fairly pragmatic approach. Wind turbines are massive beasts, and VOW sees its mission as defining the region as able to handle manufacturing and distribution of the turbine components.

 

Hampton Roads has deep ports and manufacturing facilities in place that are no stranger to building big things. The dream is to build the turbines and distribute them to other projects along the coast, not just for a Virginia wind farm.

 

And if that doesn't work?

 

"If the turbines, blades and all of the components that go into the assembly and construction of the units that compose these wind farms come in on ships, we'd like to make Virginia the East Coast's gateway for this cargo," said Joe Harris, spokesman for the port authority.

 

VOW also has the ear of some committed state legislators who are pushing the General Assembly to get behind offshore wind and to establish a state offshore wind authority. If the assembly goes along with the initiative, the authority would be able to help get bond-issuing authority and loan guarantees that might entice Dominion to commit.

 

From the source ...

·         Virginian-Pilot

 

Related SGN resources ...

·         Smart Grid Renewables

·         Update: National Grid to Buy Power from Offshore Wind Farm

 

Stay connected with SGN …

• Get LinkedIn with Jesse
• Be a Fan on Facebook
• Follow Us on Twitter
• Try our RSS feed
• Get our email digest