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The Long Island Power
Authority (LIPA) and ConEd of New York in 2009 have teamed to
develop a large offshore wind project. The
Long
Island – New York City Offshore Wind Project would be located in
the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 13 miles off the Rockaway
Peninsula. It would likely be designed for 350 megawatts (MW) of
generation, with the ability to expand it to 700 MW.
LIPA considered an offshore wind
project in 2005 but finally decided that it was too expensive
compared to other energy sources. The project included 40 wind
turbines producing 144 MW of power. Download their
Report.
The project was strongly supported by the
Long
Island Offshore Wind Initiative public interest group. New York is already supporting a
tidal energy project with
Verdant Power
in the East River of New York City.
The Company has
identified a site offshore New York that is at least ten
miles from shore and also not in an established shipping lane into
busy New York harbor. This is near the Hamptons on eastern
Long Island. The depth and wind are ideal for our technology
solution.
New York Site
P-13311
(click to
download FERC application)
UPDATE April 9, 2009:
FERC and MMS
agree to rule
changes that suspend the FERC preliminary permit system for OCS wave
power projects. The Company's application has been dismissed. But our existing preliminary permit
in Washington state is not affected by this decision. We will
continue our business in the other sites using the new permit
system. The Company's plans for these sites are not affected
by the change in the FERC preliminary permit system.
Site Coordinates
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W 40° 33’
N 72° 44’ W
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NE 40° 51’
N 71° 56’ W
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SE 40° 33’
N 71° 51’ W
The Company believes
this project is economically competitive because it is significantly
different from the earlier proposal:
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The earlier proposal assumed monopole foundations for the
turbines and thus required a new construction ship. These
ships are used to place turbines on top of monopole foundations
and they cost $200 million or more. None of these ships
exist in the USA. The mobile jackup platform the Company
proposes do not require a specialized offshore construction ship
to install the turbines. The project saves $200 million or
more up front in comparison to the other project.
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The scale is much larger. LIPA proposed 40 turbines making
144 MW. We propose 100 offshore platforms making 1000 MW
and can achieve better economies of scale per megawatt
delivered. This much power is also more significant to the
needs of the LIPA.
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The wind is better. The site investigated earlier, off
Jones Beach, is further west and closer to shore and there is
less wind and wave energy available.
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Wave energy converters added to our platforms will produce more
power, including times when the wind suddenly drops off while
the ocean swells keep surging by.
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