Deepwater Wind CEO says Block Island wind farm could sell power at lower price
Providence Journal|Alex Kuffner|January 15, 2015
Deepwater Wind now expects its five-turbine offshore wind farm planned near Block Island to produce more power than originally projected, resulting in potentially lower prices for consumers, company CEO Jeffrey Grybowski told the state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday.
Deepwater Wind now expects its five-turbine offshore wind farm planned near Block Island to produce more power than originally projected, resulting in potentially lower prices for consumers, company CEO Jeffrey Grybowski told the state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday.
WARWICK, R.I. — Deepwater Wind now expects its five-turbine offshore wind farm planned near Block Island to produce more power than originally projected, resulting in potentially lower prices for consumers, company CEO Jeffrey Grybowski told the state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday.
Because of improvements in technology in the five years since the PUC approved a power purchase agreement between utility National Grid and Deepwater, Grybowski said that offshore wind turbines now operate more efficiently and capture the wind more effectively, thereby generating more electricity.
That could translate into a lower overall price because of a clause in the contract that stipulates that any power produced over an agreed-upon threshold …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]WARWICK, R.I. — Deepwater Wind now expects its five-turbine offshore wind farm planned near Block Island to produce more power than originally projected, resulting in potentially lower prices for consumers, company CEO Jeffrey Grybowski told the state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday.
Because of improvements in technology in the five years since the PUC approved a power purchase agreement between utility National Grid and Deepwater, Grybowski said that offshore wind turbines now operate more efficiently and capture the wind more effectively, thereby generating more electricity.
That could translate into a lower overall price because of a clause in the contract that stipulates that any power produced over an agreed-upon threshold must be sold to Rhode Island ratepayers at a 50 percent discount. Under the 20-year contract, the price of power in the first year is 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour.
“The impact of that will be that the first-year price will be lower,” Grybowski said.
The meeting was scheduled to update the commission on the progress of the project, which is on track to be the first offshore wind farm in the United States. It was the first time Deepwater was back before the commission since the approval of the power contract in 2010.
During an hour-long presentation to the commission, Grybowski said that financing for the approximately $225-million wind farm is going smoothly and that the project is set to begin construction this spring, with full operation set for the fall of 2016.