US: First offshore wind farm takes shape

Onshore wind energy in the US is booming: The country has earned a reputation as installation champion in recent years. There's no other place in the world where that many turbines have been installed and grid-connected as in the United States – a total of more than 67 gigawatts.

But while offshore wind energy started to thrive in Europe, the US is lagging far behind. There have been plans for an offshore farm off the coast of Massachusetts dating back as far as the millennium, but what followed was a year long bitter struggle with the prominent residents of the local holiday region Nantucket / Martha's Vineyard, countless court rulings and political dimensions, circling up as far as the US presidential election campaign. Late last year, the 'Cape Wind Project' had to throw in the towel for now: The already concluded power purchase agreements ran out, with the consortium being unable to stem the complete financing of the wind farm.

This cleared the way for another offshore project: The 'Block Island' test farm will consist of five turbines and will be installed off the coast of Rhode Island. The project was able to attract investors in the past few months and now has earned the title of the “first offshore wind farm in the United States” introducing Rhode Island as a potential new US offshore wind Mecca.

Installation of the first foundation was due last week, but had to be delayed a few days because of the weather. On Sunday afternoon, the first of five 1,500t jacket foundations finally was put into the water about five kilometers off the coast. Jeff Grybowski, CEO of developer Deepwater Wind, captured the process on Twitter.

The jacket hanging on the crane...

The United States have hopes for offshore wind to build a new industrial sector bringing many jobs by building up their own supply chains, especially in the crisis-ridden heavy industry. Thus, the components of the Block Island wind farm were already built completely in the US: The jackets were made by Gulf Island Fabrication/Louisiana and provided with additional parts by local business Speciality Diving Services of Rhode Island.

...and slowly lowered into the water. (Photos: Jeff Grybowski, CEO Deepwater Wind, @JGrybowski)

In the coming weeks, the remaining four jackets will be installed before the 6MW Haliade turbines by Alstom will follow later in summer. The farm is ready to go online next year and will provide electricity for 17,000 households – among them all the residents of Block Island, a small island next to the site which was reliant on diesel generators until now.

Grybowski told the Providence Journal: “It was a very big moment.” On Monday, the official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place, attended also by Governor Gina Raimondo. “Block Island is very important to jump start the offshore wind industry in the U.S.,“ Grybowski stated for Bloomberg.

Governor Gina Raimondo cuts the ribbon. (Photo: Clint Plummer, Vice President of Deepwater Wind, @clint_plummer)

So far offshore wind industry is still missing support of the population, since electricity prices for offshore wind energy are still quite high. Residents of Block Island have, however, welcomed the plans for the farm since the very beginning: “Rhode Island was very forward-thinking and had designated a specific development area," Alexander Krolick of the co-financing French bank Societe Generale explains to Reuters.

Block Island was selected as a test region by the State in order to obtain the energy problems of the island in 2007. The 1,000 inhabitants relied on expensive diesel generators for years. Once the wind farm produces electricity, prices will fall by 40 percent – a fact which has ensured the support of the population. “We have some of the country's highest electricity prices," resident David Kane told the press. „This is going to help us a lot.“

Even more support could come from the very top spot of the country very soon: Hillary Clinton, Democratic candidate in the next presidential election, published her plans to fight climate change on Sunday. Accordingly, she wants to ensure that the United States will be able to produce enough renewable energy to provide for every inhabitant within ten years. By the end of her first term, she wants more than half a billion installed solar panels amongst other things.

Renewing and strengthening special tax laws, including the PTC, are also on the agenda – a measure that could also make offshore wind in the US benefit. “Everybody shares the view that we need to make progress to decrease the cost,“ says Jerome Deflesselles of Societe Generale. He believes, it is possible to reduce the price for offshore wind in the US to the level of fossil fueled electricity prices within five years. As of November 8, 2016, he could thereby get support from Hillary Clinton.