The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced the formation of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition (OffshoreWindDC), which will focus on advocacy and education efforts to promote offshore wind energy.
The new coalition, which will be based in Washington, DC, will be headed up by Jim Lanard, formerly Managing Director for Deepwater Wind.
OffshoreWindDC will both expand and sharpen the focus of the industry
efforts already underway through AWEA. For example, AWEA is currently
working to secure long-term tax policy for offshore wind and shorten the
permitting timeline for projects. The effort will involve AWEA,
offshore wind developers, and other stakeholders in states such as
Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio.
The U.S. has vast offshore wind resources, particularly off the Eastern seaboard and in the Great Lakes. Offshore wind projects totaling more than 5,000 megawatts (MW) have been proposed and are in the planning or development stages in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that of the 300,000 MW of wind power that could generate 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030, 50,000 MW would likely be offshore.
Founding members and contributors to the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, in addition to AWEA, include Apex Wind, Cape Wind, Deepwater Wind, Fishermen’s Energy, NRG Bluewater Wind, OffshoreMW, and Seawind Renewable.
In Related News…
As the U.S. Department of the Interior begins to reorganize the Minerals Management Service (MMS)–now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE)–a group of federal lawmakers is urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to create a special agency to specifically handle offshore wind development.
Senators Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman (both D-Del.) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) sent a letter to Salazar on July 14 expressing their concern that if offshore wind remains under the jurisdiction of BOEMRE, the development of an offshore clean energy plan for the United States could be compromised.
The letter, which was also signed by two additional Senators and four other members of Congress, states, “Minimizing administrative delay is vital to the success of offshore wind projects in the near and long-term, and for this reason we write to express our desire to see that offshore wind and renewable energy issues be regulated outside of BOEMRE at least temporarily.”
The delegation requested that the Interior Department explore the possibility of, “a special office or bureau specifically dedicated to offshore wind and renewables.”
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