Footnotes

Wind, out of the Blue

By Chris Stimpson and Chuck Kleekamp

    The excitement on Cape Cod was palpable on the weekend leading up to the MMS hearings on the Cape Wind project, and not just at the thought of dueling minstrels at the microphone.  To the unbounded joy of the wind farm opponents on stage, the Deus ex Machina of Blue H USA appeared from the wings with perfect timing to state that you can have wind power without seeing it.

    Except that this can't happen for some time, even though Ray Dackerman, Blue H USA general manager has said "It's here now," referring to their technology of a floating wind farm 23 miles south of Martha's Vineyard [1].  And Cape Wind's opponents embraced the idea as an alternative to Cape Wind [2].

    Some background is in order.  Offshore windfarms support their turbines on fixed hollow towers called monopoles. Total installed cost, including the turbine, is between $2 million and $3million per megawatt, based on European experience with 15 offshore windfarms.

    In 2002, Norway's Norsk Hydro Oil & Energy [3] started a pilot project called "Hywind".  The concept, to float a 3-megawatt turbine in 400 feet of water tethered with cables to anchors, would cost over $7 million per megawatt.

    After six years, the Hywind project has yet to be installed.

    "Making floating offshore foundations commercially viable is a significant technological challenge," said Andreas Nauen [4], head of the Siemens PG Wind Power division, the turbine supplier [5] for Hywind.  And Bech Gjørv of Norsk Hydro adds:  "The goal [of wind farms with 200 turbines] is far in the future, but if we're to succeed in 10-15 years, we have to start the work today." [6].

    And so to Blue H, a young Netherlandish company with a patented "tension leg platform" solution, in which anchor chains apply a constant tension to a buoyant, semi-submerged structure to keep the platform level and the turbine tower straight. Last December, 12 miles off the coast of southern Italy in 350 feet of water, the company installed what it termed a "large-scale prototype":  an unconventional, 80-kilowatt, fast-spinning 2-bladed turbine delivering zero electrical power [7]. A moment's math tells us that one would need 45 of these to equal the rated output of just one of the 3.6 megawatt turbines planned for Cape Wind.

    Martin Reilly, the local Blue H spokesman, claims that "Deep water technology now exists, and it's viable.  The cost of generation will be less than any other offshore wind energy generation project proposed to date at this time."[8].  But if Fortune 500 companies like Norsk Hydro and Siemens haven't deployed a single floating prototype in six years and predict a 10-15 year wait for viability, it's quite a stretch to imagine that Blue H could install a 120-turbine, billion-dollar wind farm 45 miles off New Bedford now, qualifying it as an "alternative" to Cape Wind.

    And in fact, they can't. In its next round of interim activity the Minerals Management Service (MMS) will evaluate over 40 applications for authorization to erect resource data collection facilities and technology testing only [9]. Offshore wind turbine technology testing will not be authorized through this interim policy, and commercial wind farms will not even be considered [10]. So Blue H has applied to launch their anchored platform supporting a monopole tower topped with dummy weights simulating a wind turbine to test the mooring system [11]. However, MMS may limit the number of authorizations under this policy. Perhaps an MMS permit will go to Blue H, or perhaps to others.

    When asked about a likely in-service date for their completed project, Reilly offered a date of 2013  [12].  This suggests a shorter permitting process than Cape Wind, using known technology, has had to endure even to this point. Even Walt Musial, a principal engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has said: "Blue H appears very serious about this, but it cannot yet be viewed as an alternative to the kind of reliable energy Cape Wind would be able to produce." Regarding floating turbine technology he said: "It hasn't been proven yet. It's very important people's expectations don't get beyond the demonstration project level."[13].

    Nonetheless, as a citizens' organization supporting viable renewable energy projects and policies, Clean Power Now has always undertaken to evaluate utility-scale wind power proposals, endorsing those determined viable.  So while we welcome Blue H's efforts, we will refrain from endorsing until we have at least seen the company's Expanded Environmental Notice Form and details of its engineering design.

    While Blue H is working for the future, we believe it is prudent to follow the European example and build our first offshore wind farm with proven technology, starting in the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound before working in the unknowns of the deep.

Christopher Stimpson,
Board Member, Clean Power Now

Charles W. Kleekamp, P.E. Ret.
Vice President, Clean Power Now

Footnotes:

1.  "Floating wind turbines on horizon?"  by Karen Jeffrey, Cape Cod Times, March 10, 2008.

2.  "Timely Entry for Deep-Water Project," by Mike Seccombe, Vineyard Gazette, March 14, 2008.

3. Norsk Hydro Oil & Energy Company is a Fortune 500 company founded in 1905 with 36,000 employees.

4.  "Danish based Siemens Wind Power to supply wind turbine for Hydro project," Invest in Denmark, June 27, 2007. 
5. Siemens Power Generation of Germany is a premier international power generation company with 2006 sales of 10 billion Euros and 36,400 employees.

6. Hydro Web Site, Nov. 2, 2005: http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/archive/2005_11/hywind_en.html

7. A telephone conversation by Kleekamp with Ray Dackerman, Blue H USA general manager, on March 20, 2008.

8. Deep-water wind farm plan floated off Vineyard," by Joshua Balling, The Inquirer and Mirror, March 13, 2008

9. Number of applications verified by phone with Ms. Maureen Bornholdt, MMS, on March 28, 2008.

10. This interim policy is listed in the Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 214, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 p. 62673-62675.  Title: "MMS Request for Information and Nominations of Areas for Leases Authorizing Alternative Energy Resource Assessment and Technology Testing Activities."

11. A conversation at the CPN office with Mr. Reilly on March 19, 2008.

12. A conversation at the CPN office with Mr. Reilly on March 19, 2008.

13. "Timely Entry for Deep-Water Project," by Mike Seccombe, Vineyard Gazette, March 14, 2008.

About Clean Power Now
Clean Power Now is a non-profit grassroots organization informing citizens and empowering them to support viable renewable energy projects and policies, and to secure their local and regional benefits.
We believe that the timely development of such projects, in conjunction with energy efficiency and conservation, will bring about a clean, healthy environment, an improved economy and a more secure, sustainable America.
Our immediate focus is to increase citizen support of offshore wind power in Nantucket Sound.
Web site: www.cleanpowernow.org