The Search for Resources for New Englands Electricity Future

1
The Search for Resources for New Englands
Electricity Future

• Offshore Wind
• Greg Watson
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative

Electricity Restructuring Roundtable February 10,
2006
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The Need for Change and Choice

• Global Population Growth
• Energy Consumption50 by 2020
• Fossil Reserves ?
• Environmental Impact?
• Alternatives ?

3
Renewable Energy Trust
4
Global Wind Industry
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Wind Capacity / Cost Trendsin the United States
Cost of Energy and Cumulative Domestic Capacity
Capacity (MW)
Cost of Energy (cents/kWh)
Year 2000 dollars
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Turbine Size
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Global Offshore Wind
 

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U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Resource
Exclusions 0 to 5 nm 100 5 to 20 nm
67 20 to 50 nm 33 Accounts for avian,
marine mammal, view shed, restricted habitats,
shipping routes other habitats.
Resource not yet assessed
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there may be, conservatively speaking, more
than 100 gigawatts of capacity just off of New
England
David Garman, Acting Under Secretary, U.S.
DOE The Energy Daily, August 30, 2004
New England Offshore Wind Resource
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11,455 MW Proposed Offshore Through 2010
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Factors Influencing Future Development

• Renewable Portfolio Standards
• Production Tax Credit Extension
• Transmission Access
• Environmental Issues
• Air Emissions and Climate Policy
• Wind-Hydro Integration
• Hydrogen
• Clean Water
• Offshore Development

Photo Gunnar Britse
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Offshore Wind Technology Challenges

• The Key Differences between onshore and offshore
  
• Hydro-dynamic loads wind loads
• Highly corrosive salt-laden air
• Dehumidification required to prevent equipment
  deterioration
• Remote, difficult access - autonomous operation
  essential
• Visual aesthetics and noise pollution less
  problematic than on land
• Turbine lower of costs offshore

 
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Wind Turbines

• GE 1.5 MW
• 77 M Rotor Diameter
• 50-100 M Tower
• 98 Availability
• Speed 10-20 RPM
• Variable Pitch

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10 MW Turbine Concept

• 180 m rotor diameter
• Downwind 2 blade machine
• Flexible compliant blades
• Flow controlled blades
• High rpm/tip velocity gt 100 m/s
• Gearless direct drive
• Space frame structure
• Multivariable damping controls
• 40 m water depth foundation
• Hurricane ride-thru capability

Can we build it? Do the economics make sense?
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Wall Street Journal Opinion The Katrina
CrisisBy DANIEL YERGIN September 2, 2005In
the 1930s, drillers had put down wells in the
waters off the beaches of Louisiana and Texas, to
little effect. The first company to really go off
shore -- that is, out of sight of land -- was the
Oklahoma independent, Kerr-McGee, just after
World War II. The company figured the risk was
worth it There was not much competition and so
the acreage was cheap. The risk lay in the fact
that the technology did not yet really exist for
building a platform, getting it into position,
drilling into the ocean floor -- or even
servicing a platform. All that needed to be
invented. In October 1947, Kerr-McGee hit oil
in Block 32, 10 miles off Louisiana. That marked
the beginning of what has turned into an
extraordinary accomplishment of science and
engineering. All the elements that were needed
did get invented, reinvented, and reinvented yet
again. The pace has only increased.
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Offshore Wind Collaborative

• Technology Development
• Large-scale fully marinized systems
• Environmental Compatibility
• Minimize adverse impacts and changes
• Economic and Financial Viability
• Reduce costs of offshore systems and price of
  electricity to consumers
• Regulation and Government Policies
• Siting and permitting processes that gain public
  support

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25 MW GE Arklow Bank Facility, Ireland
165 MW Nysted Offshore Wind Farm, Rødsand, Denmark
watson_at_masstech.org