National Offshore Wind Strategy

From the U.S. DOE, a September 2016 paper detailing offshore wind development strategy:

http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/09/f33/National-Offshore-Wind-Strategy-report-09082016.pdf

At 70+ pages, too time consuming here to read the whole paper, but the executive summary and going through the graphs was enlightening. Here are some excerpts from the introduction and summary:

...almost 80% of U.S. electricity demand located in coastal states and total off shore wind energy technical potential equal to about double the nation’s demand for electricity...

...located close to major coastal load centers, providing an alternative to long-distance transmission or development of electricity generation in these land-constrained regions. Once built, offshore wind farms could produce energy at low, long-term fixed costs, which can reduce electricity prices and improve energy security by providing a hedge against fossil fuel price volatility...

The national energy landscape has changed significantly since the first national strategy for offshore wind was released in 2011. The first domestic offshore wind farm is scheduled for commercial operation in 2016, and there are now 11 active commercial leases along the Atlantic Coast...Coastal states have increased their demand for renewable energy deployment through renewable portfolio standards and other mandates. Many legacy fossil fuel, nuclear, and renewable generators are set to retire because of age, cost, or as part of the move toward lower-carbon sources of electricity. Land-based wind energy generation in the United States has increased nearly 60% and utility-scale solar generation increased more than 1,300% [1] relative to 2011. Most of this renewable generation is located far from coastal load centers, and long-distance transmission infrastructure has not kept pace with this rapid deployment. At the same time, the offshore wind market has matured rapidly in Europe, and costs are now falling. These trends suggest that offshore wind has the opportunity to play a substantial role as a source of domestic, large-scale, affordable electricity for the nation...Today, a technical potential of 2,058 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind resource capacity are accessible in U.S. waters using existing technology. This is equivalent to an energy output of 7,200 terawatt-hours per year— enough to provide nearly double the total electric generation of the United States in 2015...

• • ...By the end of 2015, DOI had awarded 11 commercial leases for offshore wind development that could support a total of 14.6 GW of capacity...
  • ...A new cost analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows credible scenarios for cost reductions below $100/megawatt-hour by 2025 in some areas of the United States, and more widely around the country by 2030...
  • ...A 1.8% reduction in cumulative greenhouse gas emissions— equivalent to approximately 1.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide—could save $50 billion in avoided global damages...

• • ...could save $2 billion in avoided mortality, morbidity, and economic damages from cumulative reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulates.
  • ...could reduce water consumption by 5% and water withdrawals by 3%.
  • ...could drive significant reductions in electricity price volatility associated with fossil fuel costs.

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Just an engineering problem waiting to be solved for the future and maintenance/repair jobs for now. Upgrade structural integrity to withstand 160+ mph winds and blade, motor and transmission lines to run in that insane situation.

Seriously, though, lots of blue and white collar jobs to be had. Let's get those coal workers transitioned and trained up!

Probably at least 3 barriers right now in the U.S.:
a) costs will come down substantially in the next 10 years (see graphs on pages 16-17)
b) environmental regs
c) relatively unique U.S. geographic and weather issues (deep waters off of the West Coast and as Bob notes, hurricanes on the East Coast)

 

Yeah, looks like these omnidirectional turbines could handle the shear stresses, but then there's no where for the power to go.

Besides no batteries or sufficient mechanical potential energy storage solutions, the transmission lines would have to be extremely robust to handle the current and voltage. If there were sufficiently high powered international transmission lines, some of this could be sold on the open market instantaneously. But many power sources are already contracted in advance, such as base-load power.

Still sounds like a great engineering challenge.

 

Orders of magnitude of more power to deal with than this.

 

Really fun looking at maps like these. All that offshore wind potential in the right densely populated places (west coast and northeast to mid-Atlantic). Lots of low cost real estate down the center of the nation. Wind will usually be blowing strongly in at least any one of these areas. Throw in some massive regional grid interconnects and upgrades to interconnects to Canada and Mexico, lots of new clean energy jobs, and the all important sprinkle of political will...