Offshore Wind On The Atlantic Cost Could Create 300,000 Jobs And $200 Billion In Economic Activity


by Silvio Marcacci, via CleanTechnica



These findings come from “The Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy,” a new report from the National Wildlife Foundation (NWF) outlining the energy and economic benefits offshore wind could create in the U.S., highlighting progress made to date, and detailing policy action needed to realize the industry’s potential.

Federal Policy + State Action = Turbines

While it seems like offshore wind has been touted for years, the future is closer to reality than ever before. The federal government has designated over 2,000 square nautical miles of federal waters with high wind speeds and low potential conflicts for wind energy, with leases expected by the end of 2012.

These areas dovetail with efforts across 10 states comprising much of the Atlantic seaboard to promote offshore wind and streamline the leasing process. In addition, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Jersey have set offshore wind energy generation goals for their states.

The result of all this policy action has been a host of proposals. The oft-delayed Cape Wind project off Massachusetts is expected to begin construction in 2013, and the federal government is currently reviewing lease applications for a utility-scale project in New York, a floating turbine pilot project in Maine, and the Atlantic Wind Connection undersea transmission line. In addition, wind farm proposals are advancing in Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Grid Reliability and Price Benefits

Beyond creating new jobs and economic activity building and operating all these new turbines, plugging offshore wind into our nation’s grid can increase reliability and lower utility prices. Offshore winds blow strongest during the day and in heat waves – precisely the points when demand for electricity is highest and the risk of power shortages most acute.

In addition, the greatest potential wind power lies along some of the East Coast’s biggest cities. Grid congestion has constrained the ability of cheaper power to reach these demand pools and created some of the highest power prices in the country.

But if these population centers could tap into steady electricity being generated just offshore, growing demand could be met cheaply. In fact, New York State’s grid operator recently found consumers save $300 million in wholesale electricity costs for every 1 GW of wind on the grid.

Global Competition to Lead the Industry

Looking past our shores, the global economic stakes couldn’t be higher. Europe’s offshore wind boasts 4 GW of capacity, powers 4 million homes, and employs 40,000 with 300,000 total jobs forecast by 2020. Meanwhile, China has 260 megawatts (MW) of capacity currently built and plans 30GW by 2020 – enough to power 10 million homes. Statistics like these illustrate how our opportunity to lead the offshore wind industry slips away with each day of inaction.

So how can America harness the power of the wind? NWF has outlined four steps for federal and state policymakers to follow:

  1. Set goals for offshore wind energy development in the Atlantic Ocean and renewable energy generation across the U.S.
  2. Target tax credit, procurement, and funding actions to level the playing field for offshore wind.
  3. Ensure offshore wind projects are sited, constructed, and operated responsibly.
  4. Increase stakeholder coordination and public engagement.

“America’s Atlantic coast has some of the best offshore wind energy resources in the world, the technology to harvest it is ready right now, and we have workers ready to do the job,” said Catherine Bowes, NWF senior manager for new energy solutions. “We need to take advantage of this golden opportunity to make our electricity supply cleaner, more wildlife-friendly, and more secure.”

Silvio is Principal at Marcacci Communications, a full-service clean energy public relations company based in Washington, D.C. This piece was originally published at CleanTechnica and was reprinted with permission.

9 Responses to Offshore Wind On The Atlantic Cost Could Create 300,000 Jobs And $200 Billion In Economic Activity

  1. Zimzone says:

    And yet our current congress won’t extend wind production tax credits, but want to extend or increase the fauxsil fuel entities.

  2. James says:

    You misspelled Coast

  3. Arwen Legolas Wilson says:

    What are they waiting for? Looks like these other countries who already have those things in place will be the head, and we the tail.

  4. Mulga Mumblebrain says:

    These wind turbines can eventually be removed, too, when a better technology arises, and when we downsize our neoplastic economic destructiveness. Unlike nuclear, it will be relatively easy task without thousands of tons of extremely toxic waste left over, needing to be guarded for millennia.

  5. David B. Benson says:

    Strictly speaking, the once-through nuclear pins are neither toxic nor waste. This valuable nuclear material still contains over 99% of its extractable energy. This can be extracted in a fast reactor. GE-Hitachi already has a commerical design, just awaiting customers.

  6. David B. Benson says:

    My understanding of the costs are that while onshore wind turbines have a lower LCOE than light water nuclear power plants, offshore wind turbines have an LCOE which is noticeably larger.

  7. Rabid Doomsayer says:

    NIMBY is so alive and well. We need wind turbines but not where I Imagine I might hear them, not where I might even see them.

  8. Spike says:

    In the UK we are still making some progress despite Treasury hostility and preference for unabated natural gas. Fortunately the Scottish government understands the fierce urgency of climate change.

  9. Jan says:

    What needs to be emphasized and trumpeted repeatedly is the hidden social cost of coal, estimated at $0.18/kwh by Dr. Paul Epstein of Harvard. If, in fact he is only half right, at $.09/kwh, wind power, compared to coal, is far more economical and far less destructive to the health of the American and the planet.
    Yet because it is hidden, it is ignored. UNHIDE it!