DOE Loan Guarantee Supports World's Largest Wind Project
DOI Signs First U.S. Offshore Wind Lease
DOI Approves First Solar Tower Project on Public Lands
U.S. Energy Consumption Up 2.7% for First Half of 2010
DOE Awards Third Grant for U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center
Federal Energy and Water Management Award Winners
DOE Loan Guarantee Supports World's Largest Wind Project
On October 8, the Dept of Energy (DOE) announced a conditional commitment for a partial guarantee of a $1.3 billion loan for the world's largest wind farm, the 845 MW Caithness Energy's Shepherds Flat project in eastern Oregon.
Sponsored by Caithness and General Electric (GE) Energy Financial Services, the project consists of 338 GE 2.5xl turbines, which are being deployed for the first time in North America. Southern California Edison is buying all the electricity through 20-year fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA).
According to Caithness, the project will directly create 400 construction jobs, followed by 35 permanent wind jobs on site, while avoiding emissions equivalent to 212,000 passenger vehicles, or 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.
The Shepherds Flat project is the largest project to date to receive a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), a DOE program supported by the Recovery Act. Under FIPP financing, DOE guarantees up to 80% of a loan for a renewable energy project by qualified financial institutions. See the DOE press release and the DOE Loan Guarantee Program Web site.
Interior Dept Signs First U.S. Offshore Wind Lease
The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and Cape Wind Associates signed the nation's first lease for commercial wind development on the Outer Continental Shelf on October 6.
The leased area covers 25 square miles on Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts. Cape Wind plans to erect 130 wind turbines in the leased area to generate up to 468 MW of electricity, with an average anticipated output of 182 MW. The 28-year lease will cost the company $88,278 in annual rent prior to production, and a 2%-7% operating fee during production.
The Cape Wind project is the first wind farm on the Outer Continental Shelf, and could generate enough power to meet 75% of the electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island combined. See the DOI press release and the Cape Wind page on the Web site of DOI's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM).
DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) released a report that analyzes the key factors impacting the deployment of offshore wind power in the U.S.
The report, "Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States: Assessment of Opportunities and Barriers," analyzes the technology challenges, economics, permitting procedures, and potential risks and benefits of offshore wind power deployment in U.S. waters.
NREL finds that harnessing even a fraction of the potential offshore wind resource could create thousands of jobs and help revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify U.S. energy supplies, and provide cost-competitive electricity to key coastal regions.
To help address the challenges they identify, DOE and DOI launched several interagency efforts that focus on siting and permitting, standards and technical collaboration, resource assessment and design conditions, and environmental monitoring and mitigation. See the DOE press release, the report's executive summary and the full report , and the interagency initiatives . And for more information on DOE's efforts, see the Offshore Wind Technology page on DOE's Wind and Water Power Program Web site.
