The manufacturer picked to supply a proposed Delaware wind farm has halted production of its offshore turbine because of a faulty component. ...Of Vestas' 96 V-90 turbines installed off the coast of Europe, between 10 and 15 are idle as workers fix the gears, said Anders Soe-Jensen, president of Vestas Offshore. All of the gearboxes will eventually have to be replaced, if they haven't been already. ...Delmarva Power spokesman Bill Yingling said his company is disappointed Bluewater Wind didn't alert Delmarva to the mechanical problem during negotiations for a power purchase agreement. ..."It [offshore wind] will grow far bigger, but we do not believe, in the foreseeable future, it will become as big as people believe. Media coverage for offshore far exceeds reality," Kruse said. There are about 15,000 megawatts of wind power available globally, but only about 198 of those megawatts come from offshore production, he noted.

... a Long Island man who has crunched offshore wind farm numbers says it's unclear from Bluewater's financial documents how it intends to accomplish that and remain financially viable. ...But Delmarva is a reluctant participant, having been forced by four state agencies to negotiate with Bluewater. Delmarva officials have fretted about the cost of wind power to their ratepayers, pointing out that the Long Island project is on the brink of being canceled because it cost too much. Bluewater spokesman Jim Lanard said his company will be able to build wind projects "considerably cheaper" by paying less for the same types of components. Lanard said Bluewater can beat Long Island wind farm developer FPL Energy's price on turbines, labor, ship rentals and installation costs. ...The Bluewater contract includes "escalators" for increases in the price of commodities such as steel, copper, aluminum and lead, to cover increases during the two-year period between the time the contract is signed and executed. ...A more important hedge would be to account for increases in the cost of finished turbines, but that's missing from the term sheet, Dale said.

A multibillion-dollar proposal to supply Delaware with electrical power from offshore windmills would actually increase air pollution within the state, critics say. Because winds don't always blow strongly enough to generate power, windmills would require backup electricity supplies to meet anticipated demand. The pending offshore wind proposal includes a backup natural gas power plant that could also produce power for sale in other states. ...The added pollution and extra cost have led some to question both the wind and the gas plant project. Delmarva and others called last year for conservation and better reliance on regional power supplies to meet future demands, instead of a massive new investment.

An upcoming decision by the Sussex County Board of Adjustment will chart a course for the future of a new county business, and it could also set a precedent for the fate of a readily available alternative energy source. NextGen Energy Inc., an alternative energy company in Millsboro, wants to get into the wind turbine business but has run into a major stumbling block. Under current county regulations, windmills for residential or commercial use on lots of fewer than five acres are not permitted.

"There are a number of us who are concerned about how to put this thing in the proper context, as opposed to just plowing forward with one proposal from one company to do one thing," Keifer said. Too few groups are asking questions about Bluewater's plans, and too many are accepting the company's predictions on faith, he said. "There's a place for wind power, but it's not a question of religion,"...

NRG Energy and Conectiv Energy traded accusations that the other's proposal to back up a wind farm is impractical. The companies are vying to build a natural gas plant to back up Bluewater Wind's proposed offshore wind farm when the wind isn't blowing as hard. The two plants would provide electrical power on a long-term basis to Delmarva Power.

Some lawmakers remain concerned about the price of offshore wind energy, which has not yet been used in this country. Copeland said he was concerned the deal would lock ratepayers into higher bills than if electricity suppliers competed on a regular basis to fill Delmarva's required renewable-energy purchases. He said the public should be able to have its voice heard through their elected representatives. "We ought to let private investors compete against one another to get us the best price point and price stability. I think the marketplace would do that better than some regulatory regime," Copeland said. He said he wants to make sure low-income residents can afford wind power.

Word of the ownership change arrived as the Public Service Commission was slogging through Bluewater's proposal for a more than $1.6 billion, 450-megawatt project that would supply Delmarva Power under a long-term contract.

An Australia-based, global energy and investment company has purchased a controlling interest in Bluewater Wind LLC, the company now seeking permission to build 150 wind turbines east of Rehoboth Beach.

Delmarva Power said a proposed 150-turbine wind farm poses extra costs and risks for its customers, setting the stage for a potentially contentious review by state officials who had hoped to move quickly toward a final contract. Although its numbers were similar to those Bluewater Wind released on Thursday, Delmarva said there were many areas where the two companies had not reached agreement, including the start date, as well as the amount of energy provided in any given hour. The terms were included in a document Delmarva released Friday.

Bluewater Wind will build 150 energy-producing turbines off the coast of Rehoboth Beach by about 2014 at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion, according to a statement released this afternoon by Bluewater. ...Bluewater spokesman Jim Lanard put it more bluntly: "Our biggest concern is that Delmarva has a secret black box they may use to try to blow up the process." Delmarva would pay 10.59 cents per kilowatt hour for the wind energy, McGonigle wrote. That's 1.05 cents higher than Bluewater's original bid.

Friday is the deadline for Delmarva Power to release details of agreements with three power companies to provide stable-priced electricity for the next 25 years. Homeowners, environmentalists and state officials are awaiting data to see if the wind farm will offer a competitive price, as well as whether the wind farm will be big enough to make a sizable contribution to the state's electricity supply. ...

... Delmarva, unhappy it is being forced to buy power in the first place, hopes to minimize the amount of energy its buys on a long-term basis. The power company is concerned about the cost of wind power and has long contended it wants to protect its customers from having to pay for excess energy. In May, the Public Service Commission and three other state agencies ordered Delmarva to negotiate with Bluewater Wind for a 200-300 megawatt offshore wind farm.

Critics have said the wind farm plan would include heavy up-front costs for building the turbines and installing them at sea. But Jim Lanard, spokesman for Bluewater Wind, said wind power will end up being less expensive than traditional fossil fuels once the government begins taxing emissions.

After Delawareans were faced with increases up to 60 percent on their electric bills last year, legislators decided to start a process to broaden the scope and availability of energy. They issued a request for proposals, which were reviewed by the Public Service Commission (PSC), Delmarva Power, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and other state agencies. The proposals they received included an offshore wind farm, a natural gas plant and a coal-fired power plant.

Delmarva Power will have until Sept. 14 to come to an agreement to buy power from a proposed wind farm and a backup natural gas plant. That's an extension from the original 60-day deadline that expired late last month.

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Multiple reports and studies, especially those published in the last year, suggest the United States, specifically the East Coast, has great potential for offshore wind. The politicized debate over whether to develop wind power offshore has dragged on since the late 1990s, when the first project was proposed in Cape Cod, Mass., off the Nantucket Sound. Since then there have been several other proposals, none of which has been completely approved.

Legislators in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic passed a number of bills applying to the electric power industry, with several states committing to emissions reductions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other states making broad organizational changes to their regulatory processes.

DOVER -- Four state agencies rebuffed Conectiv Energy's request to submit an offshore wind farm proposal to compete with Bluewater Wind. At Tuesday's Public Service Commission meeting, Conectiv officials argued they would have submitted a proposal for a wind farm earlier if they had known that state officials were seriously thinking about commissioning one. Instead, they proposed a natural gas plant. But members of the commission, and other state agencies, collectively said Conectiv's overture came too late. Bluewater Wind is already in negotiations with Delmarva Power for a long-term power purchase agreement.

The shallow water just miles from the Rehoboth Beach shoreline could be the site of the country's first offshore wind farm -- but it will not be the only one, as similar projects are racing forward in Massachusetts and New York, experts say.