The global wind turbine leader Siemens has just inked a deal to provide its offshore turbines to the massive new Cape Wind power project, and that one contract could shake the offshore wind power market to its core. You know what they say about waking the sleeping tiger, right? For the past several years, other nations (notably the UK, China, Belgium, and Denmark) have been going at the offshore wind industry hammer and tongs while the US industry has been practically comatose, with just a couple of demonstration-scale projects to its credit. Cape Wind is going to change all that.
How Significant Is Cape Wind?
To give you an idea of offshore wind power potential in the US, a
Stanford University study from 2009 estimated that the Atlantic Coast alone
could provide enough offshore wind power for about one-third of the US, which
translates into every major city along the eastern seaboard and everything in
between. As the first commercial offshore wind farm in the US, Cape Wind will
be the anchor for a coordinated, multistate effort to tap into that potential,
through an initiative launched by the Obama Administration called the Atlantic Offshore Wind Consortium. As the
first of its kind, Cape Wind illustrates the many hurdles
faced by the US offshore wind industry, including local, state and federal
permitting issues as well as lawsuits from landowners and other
stakeholders in the Cape Cod region.The expectation is that lessons learned
from getting Cape Wind off the drawing board will help streamline the process
in other coastal states. The Department of Energy is already anticipated that
nationally, installed US offshore wind capacity will grow from virtually zero
to 3.5 gigawatts in the next five years.
The Cape
Wind Project and Siemens Wind Turbines
Cape Wind started picking up speed in
2011, when the project got its Department of Energy permit. Cape Wind will
consist of 130 wind turbines with a combined capacity of up to 420 megawatts.
Its developer, Energy Management Inc., estimates that
even in average winds the turbines will generate enough electricity for about
three-quarters of Cape Cod and its islands. Last spring, the project passed an
important financing milestone, and the new contract with Siemens was just
announced earlier this week, on December 23. The contract calls for Siemens to
provide its 3.6 megawatt offshore wind turbines along with a 15-year service
agreement.
Green Jobs
And Offshore Wind Power
Although Siemens’s global home is
Germany, the company is careful to note that its US projects come along with US
jobs and investment. According to company figures, about 60,000 people already
work for Siemens in the US, and management of the Cape Wind contract will be
conducted from US offices:
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