In what garnished rapid applause from residents, officials voted to end discussions with NRG Bluewater Wind on the request for underground power lines from their proposed offshore wind farm through the town.
This report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides an update to a 2008 report that provided a detailed direct federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The value of direct federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets doubled between 2007 and 2010, growing from $17.9 billion to $37.2 billion. The growth in expenditures to renewables is substantial compared to other fuel types.
But the firm has already forfeited $2 million of the deposit to delay the completion date. It now has until Sept. 23 to exit the deal, or lose $2.75 million, and until Jan. 1, 2013, to leave before it loses the rest. Bluewater will work to not only restore federal loan guarantee money, but to try to locate some private financing, Mandelstam said.
Advocates for such renewable, carbon-free sources of electricity are in full defense mode, as recession-battered consumers blanch at the modest added costs required to shift to cleaner power and resurgent Republicans rail against government subsidies or carbon-control programs that might add costs for businesses and "kill jobs."
NRG Bluewater Wind says it will not install a planned meteorological tower for research this year, raising concerns about the future of a project that produced the nation's first offshore-windpower purchase agreement. State officials say they are disappointed in the announcement, but they remain committed to developing offshore wind power in Delaware.
The delay results from Congress' decision last month to eliminate most new funding for two loan guarantee programs used to finance renewable energy projects. That move was part of a compromise that averted a government shutdown.
The public was effectively shut out of the process. While the university hosted several public meetings where they explained the proposal and answered questions, there was never an open and independent regulatory review or hearing where the public could ask questions, raise concerns or protest the plan.
NRG Bluewater Wind has won the exclusive right to negotiate with the federal government to build an offshore wind farm off Delaware, federal officials announced Thursday. The decision is the first formal step along a gamut of environmental and permitting reviews.
The University of Delaware's 2-megawatt wind turbine is the site of new research that will help answer a common question about the alternative energy producers: How do they affect birds and bats?
Representatives from NRG Bluewater Wind met with town officials Friday to discuss plans to bring wind power to the town. ...NRG Founder/President Peter Mandelstam described how the cables will be about 6 feet under the sea floor, 15 feet under the beach.
A group of Lewes residents is readying a lawsuit that would target the University of Delaware, City of Lewes and other agencies that approved placement of a wind turbine on land adjacent to the university's College of Earth, Ocean and Environment Hugh R. Sharp Campus. Site preparation for the 2-megawatt wind turbine began last March and the unit began operation in August.
NRG Bluewater Wind is aggressively looking to expand its reach. Analysts say the company's bid last week to construct turbines off the Maryland coast is indicative of its thirst to build anywhere it can. NRG, which has a contract to supply Delmarva Power customers with electricity from a wind farm 13.2 miles off the Delaware coast, bid on 33 ocean tracts off Maryland under the name Bluewater Wind Maryland LLC.
Under Delmarva Power's rate-case proposal, the costs would be spread out over 10 years and would be added to the distribution side of the customer's bill. It is unclear how much each customer would have to pay if Delmarva Power receives its full request.
They are seen as the state-backed boost that solar and wind energy need to compete with power generated from fossil fuels in the coming decade. Trouble is, they may be the next target for Delaware tea party activists, who see them as wasteful government intervention into the free market system that just end up costing consumers more for electricity. They're renewable energy credits, or RECs.
The University of Delaware is moving forward with plans to develop a field to test wind turbines in shallow water off the Delaware coast. ...State environmental officials said they haven't heard back from university representatives on the proposal since they met in February. State permits would likely be required before any project could proceed.
The federal government declined to fund an offshore wind farm assembly project at the Port of Wilmington, dealing a setback to the state's efforts to build a manufacturing base around the new technology.
Manufacturers noted positive momentum in the U.S. market, but industry players bemoaned the piecemeal nature of their progress, with developers proposing projects, states and utilities seeking clean energy, and various arms of the federal government working on permits, not always in perfect harmony.
At least six more summers are likely to pass before a Bluewater wind turbine produces any power, and the same is true for more than a dozen sites from North Carolina to New Jersey to Maine. Offshore wind's once impressive momentum has been stalled by a powerful shift in economic, social and political currents, all casting a harsh light on the industry's weakest link -- the high cost.
The City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium's expiration date from Oct. 18 to March 2011. Mayor Jim Ford said the six-month extension was designed to give the city time to hold a public hearing on the matter and carefully craft the language of a new zoning ordinance for small wind energy systems.
A new state law conflicts with Sussex County's windmill ordinance - bringing the local wind turbine industry to a grinding halt. Under county regulations, at least 5 acres of land are required for placement of a wind turbine without a variance ...Under new state law no conditional uses or other zoning review processes are required for placement of a wind turbine.