Delaware leads race to build offshore wind farm

Opposition in Cape Cod
Unlike its mid-Atlantic neighbor, the Cape Cod project has faced vocal and well-funded opponents who complained it would mar the ocean vista. Rising energy prices have made that argument less persuasive, said Barbara Hill, executive director of Clean Power Now, an independent Hyannis, Mass.-based organization that favors the project.

The 130-turbine project has now cleared most of the regulatory hurdles and proponents are hopeful it will be in operation within four years.

Cape Wind Associates, a subsidiary of the New England power company Energy Management Inc., has spent more than $30 million on the Massachusetts project, investing profits from its natural gas-fired power plants, said Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers.

In New Jersey, Daniel Cohen, the president of the offshore wind developer Fishermen's Energy, said the organization reassessed its opposition, deciding to view offshore wind as an opportunity, not a threat.

"The public has a heightened interest to finding solutions in what it sees as a growing problem in our dependence on fossil fuels," said Cohen, who owns Atlantic Capes Fisheries in Cape May, N.J. Fishing company owners have put up the money for the project's development stage.

Obstacles remain
Significant obstacles to offshore wind still remain.

Policymakers and utility companies need to commit to long-term contracts, said Firestone, the University of Delaware professor. He pointed out that New Jersey and Rhode Island still do not have buyers for the power from the proposed projects.

There also needs to be more stability in the federal government's support for wind power, said Laurie Jodziewicz, manager of siting policy at the American Wind Energy Association. When Congress allowed a renewable energy tax credit to expire in the past — in 2000, 2002 and 2004 — wind capacity installation dropped 93 percent, 73 percent and 77 percent respectively from the previous year. A current tax credit is set to expire Dec. 31.

Proponents point out that most of the technology hurdles have been cleared, though costs remain high. They look at the almost 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind farms in European waters and say the Cape Cod and projects could jump-start offshore wind energy in the United States.

"This will be a game-changer once this project is built," said Hill, the Cape Wind advocate. "We are going to be dancing on Craigsville Beach someday, looking out and seeing the turbines spinning."

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