http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/ http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=15 have directed Delmarva Power to negotiate with Bluewater Wind to develop an agreement under which clean, stable-priced electricity from the wind park will be supplied to Delaware residents.

Per the rules of Public Services Commission, these negotiations are to be confidential. This policy is in the best interest of Delaware ratepayers, as it allows all parties to have a frank discussion about various issues so that cost-effective solutions can be found. Bluewater Wind will of course be honoring this rule, and so our contact with the public, the press, and our supporters will necessarily be more limited during this period than is the norm for Bluewater Wind.

The key terms of this contract, including price, will be made public once the parties have reached agreement, and the entire agreement will be approved by state officials. Once the agreement is in place, the permitting process will begin. We look forward to this process as an opportunity to meet with all stakeholders and provide the information they desire, in as great a detail as possible, about all aspects of the project.]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=15 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:23:42 -0400 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=14 call on their elected officials to act now, and to not let this opportunity be lost.

Last year, when Delmarva raised its rates by 59 percent, the Legislature took action to require the Public Service Commission to find a long-term, stable-priced clean energy source. Since then, three bidders – including Bluewater Wind – have submitted proposals. The cost to taxpayers so far has been over $1 million, with many millions more spent by the bidders.

Delaying timely action by the PSC is exactly what Delmarva wants. It is clear from the most recent consultant’s report that Delmarva is doing everything it can to protect the profits that come from short term contracts. They defend the status quo and claim that the volatile market will serve all their needs. Delmarva should not be rewarded – and rate payers should not be punished -- for their power company’s business-as-usual stubbornness.

Most importantly, delay is unnecessary. No matter who is selected by the PSC and other State Agencies on May 8th, the process does not stop there. The winning bidder must still negotiate the complex details of the contract, including price and its length – and the PSC will still have to approve that contract.

Doing nothing in response to the proposals will short circuit an important process. That is unwise, unnecessary, and will reward Delmarva while hurting ratepayers. The time to act is now. The cost of delay is too high. Please make your voice heard, and call on Delaware's leaders to act now.
]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=14 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:12:47 -0400 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=13
Bluewater Wind has in fact released much of the information Craig asks about, and we assume it will be posted on the PSC website by the time of this posting. The wind park will be generating electricity over 80% of the time. When Delaware needs more electricity than can be provided by the wind park, it would come from the grid in much the same way it comes from those sources now. Joe Kerecman, a vice president of PJM, the regional power grid, has made clear in a recent Salon article that introducing offshore wind won't lead to any unreliability in power supplies.

We tend to forget that no power plant operates all the time. Utilities have been dealing with this fact of life for over 100 years...there is nothing unique about a wind plant in this regard. The "reliability problem" is really not a problem at all, and Bluewater Wind welcomes the opportunity to sit down with Delmarva Power & Light and put these unwarranted concerns to rest. Bluewater Wind has formed alliances with most of the leading firms working in offshore wind energy, and this will enable us to bring a world-class project to Delaware. As with any leading business, our partners are sensitive to the fact that competitors are often attempting to learn information from the industry leader. Therefore, in order to be able to bring these industry leaders to Delaware, we agreed to work with our partners to ensure that their most sensitive commercial information was kept confidential. The PSC and a Delaware court have reviewed this request, and have agreed that the information is in fact commercially sensitive.

All of the information that Bluewater Wind has sole discretion over has been made publicly available, including the salient facts needed to make an informed decision on the merits of the Bluewater Wind proposal. The remaining confidential information constitutes a very small amount (10s of pages) of the 1000s of pages submitted. ]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=13 Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:29:04 -0400 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=9 Jim writes: “My question has to do with where and how the transmissions lines will come on shore from the two proposed [Delaware] sites. I would like to see a visualization of this, with the detailed location, rather than a visualization of the turbines, which I may not be able to see at all.”

First, to clarify: Bluewater Wind is proposing to build a project at only one of the two sites (Atlantic North or Atlantic South). These are two different clean energy options for the residents of Delaware to decide upon.

The short answer to Jim’s question is that the transmission lines will be under the seafloor, and under the beach, and so completely invisible and safe…
Each of the turbines will be interconnected with a rugged cable, buried about six feet under the sea floor. The cables will bring the electricity to an offshore transformer, or substation, platform. This transformer platform is shorter than the turbines, but wider− about the size of a house. There will be two of these substation platforms, situated among all the wind turbines.

Because of their relatively short height, the distance from shore, and the curvature of the earth, these platforms will in most cases be physically impossible to see from the shore. If they are visible, they would appear as small bumps on the horizon and could easily be mistaken for a small boat. Whether the substations are visible at all or not would depend on which project site is selected and the viewpoint. But in any case, they will be very obscure on the distant horizon.

From the substations two larger cables, also buried about six feet under the seafloor, will bring the electricity ashore. These cables will pass deep underneath the beach, and then pass underground along existing right-of-ways (such as roads) to an existing shore-based substation, connecting the wind park with the regional power grid.

All of these cables will use “tried and true” technology, identical to that used in thousands of locations around the country to carry electricity underground or underwater from point to point. And being underground, they will be totally out of sight.
]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=9 Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:15:20 -0400 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=8 Brandt asked why we aren’t proposing to use 5 megawatt or larger wind turbines, as opposed to the 3 megawatt turbine now planned for the project. Brandt’s logic is right on. In theory, fewer turbines mean fewer towers, foundations, and other hardware costs. And if the hardware costs less, but you generate the same amount of electricity, that means the electricity you generate will cost even less.

But there is more to consider than simply the cost of the hardware. An equally important factor is the reliability of the turbine...
The Vestas 3 megawatt turbine this project will use is one of the largest, most reliable turbines in use in the world today. In addition, this turbine has been used on many of the world’s major offshore wind parks. Nearly 1/3rd of all the offshore wind projects now operating in the world use this same turbine. Furthermore, Vestas has proven to be a reliable company, and has always ensured that their wind turbines perform as guaranteed.

Given the excellent reputation this turbine has earned, it’s perhaps no surprise that it was selected by all of the world’s offshore wind projects developed during the years 2005 and 2006. This turbine has also been selected by other large utilities for their land-based projects here in the United States. The Vestas 3 megawatt turbine has proven itself a reliable workhorse around the world, generating electricity for tens of thousands of Americans and Europeans day in and day out. This world-class reliability is the primary reason why we proposed that this turbine be used here in Delaware as well.
]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=8 Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:11:00 -0500 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=4 Barbara asked about differences between the Delaware Offshore Wind Park proposal and the proposal for a wind park off the Massachusetts coast, called Cape Wind. Barbara wrote that while she is not opposed to the Delaware project, she wondered if concerns raised by the Cape Wind project were addressed in the proposal for Delaware...

Bluewater Wind learns from the experience of others around the world in assembling its project proposals. In addition to Cape Wind we looked to Europe, where for over 15 years they have used offshore wind energy to safely and reliably obtain clean, stable-priced electricity. Indeed, Bluewater Wind team members have participated in 21 of the 27 offshore wind energy projects operational today. That’s 868 megawatts, or 95%, of the total 918 megawatts of offshore wind energy projects that have been installed in the world.

In responding to some of the issues raised around Cape Wind per se, we must first note that there has been a lot of mis-information circulated about the Cape Wind project (example). So while there are important differences between the two projects, one might also keep in mind that some of the concerns expressed about Cape Wind are based on incorrect information. We’re confident that the residents of Delaware, and the various officials representing them, will look to the facts when making this important decision about the Delaware proposal.

In terms of specific differences between the projects, the turbines of the Delaware Offshore Wind Park will generally be further offshore than those of Cape Wind. As a result, the Delaware project will likely be more difficult to see from shore, compared to the Cape Wind project.

Boating will continue among the turbines of both projects, although the Delaware project is in an area that generally has less casual recreational boating.

Both projects will use turbines that have proven reliable and safe on other projects. Vestas, the company designated to supply the turbines for Delaware, has provided turbines for 64% of the world’s offshore wind energy capacity.

If you have a question or comment about differences between Cape Wind and the Delaware project, or how experience from around the world is being utilized in Delaware, please let us know.
]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=4 Wed, 14 Feb 2007 18:19:34 -0500 http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=3
Thanks for visiting - Please post comments and questions, and check in often. We want to hear from you!]]> General http://deblog.bluewaterwind.com/index.php?itemid=3 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:37:06 -0500