National Workshop on the Siting of Wind Power in the US Coastal Ocean
October 22-24, 2003
Plenary
Sessions chaired by (Hauke
Kite-Powell and Porter
Hoagland)
Workshop
organized by (Mary
Schumacher)
In October 2003, the WHOI Marine Policy Center (MPC) convened
a workshop of international experts to examine the issues
raised by recent proposals to site wind-power facilities in
the US coastal ocean. Sponsored jointly by MPC and the WHOI
Coastal Ocean Institute, the workshop focused on the development
of a US management approach and policy framework to deal with
such proposals, which entail a new use of a public resource
that must be balanced against other, potentially conflicting,
uses.
The workshop addressed a range of policy considerations and
presented potentially applicable experiences and models from
the United States and abroad. During two days of prepared
talks and a final half-day of in-depth discussion, MPC researchers
and 18 invited experts from government, industry, and academia
in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel addressed
topics ranging from the technical aspects of wind farm planning
in the United Kingdom to the complex array of federal and
state laws and agencies with jurisdiction over some aspect
of the US energy system. The WHOI workshop differed from other
recent US wind power meetings in its comprehensive scope and
treatment of the many technical, economic, environmental,
and regulatory aspects of the general ocean wind power facility
siting decision.
First Plenary Session: Technology, Environment and Markets
chaired
by Hauke
Kite-Powell
The first day's plenary session featured presentations characterizing
the current state of affairs and the main challenges and opportunities
associated with wind power technologies, markets, and potential
environmental effects. Two speakers provided overviews of
the current economic and policy setting for wind power and
other renewable energy resources within the national energy
system (Joel
Darmstadter), and of the status and effects to date of
state restructuring of electric power markets (Matthew
Brown).
Two speakers addressed technical aspects of offshore wind power. The first focused on the nature and distribution of the US wind resource and what this implies for the technologies and locations that offer the most promise for economically viable wind power installations (Bruce Bailey). The second described the current state of wind power technology and the challenges facing efforts to design offshore installations for greater water depths (Muhamed Ali). Another speaker presented a method for valuing wind power that takes into account the stochastic nature of the wind resource and the value of clean air (Michael Beenstock).
The session also included talks on the wind energy policies and cost experiences of several European countries, their installed base of land and ocean wind power facilities, and plans for capacity expansion (Steffen Nielsen); and the results of early studies of the environmental effects of European offshore wind farms on seabirds (Magella Guillemette), seals, and other marine organisms (Jan Sundberg).Second Plenary Session: National Policy Considerations
chaired by Porter Hoagland
The second day's talks dealt with national policy considerations related to the siting of wind farms in the US coastal ocean. Two of the presentations covered the current and potential contributions and policy priority of wind power and other renewables within the broader contexts of US national energy policy (Jack Riggs) and climate change policy (Christopher Green).
Two speakers (Carolyn Elefant, Christine Godfrey) laid out the complex mosaic of state and federal laws, policies, regulations, and agencies with jurisdiction over the siting of offshore wind installations, none of which was designed with this particular ocean use and technology in mind. Another two speakers described the management and legal processes in place to govern access to and use of other public resources, with an emphasis on those governing offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production (Walter Cruickshank), and facilities decommissioning and removal (Robert Labelle).
The final two talks provided in-depth accounts of the technical and political processes that have been followed for the siting of an operational land-based wind farm in Wales (UK) (David Kidner) and a proposed offshore wind farm off southwestern Long Island in New York (Dan Zaweski).
The talks were delivered before an audience of WHOI staff and students and about three dozen invited guests. Among the latter group were several WHOI Trustees and Corporators and representatives from the US Commission on Ocean Policy, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and the offices of US Representative William Delahunt and Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly.The final half-day of the workshop consisted of a closed session in which MPC researchers and the invited speakers discussed several key policy questions relating to the design of a system of access to the US coastal ocean for wind power generation. The purpose of this session was to identify the major themes that emerged from the talks and any gaps in present knowledge that might suggest research needed to inform decisions about how best to manage offshore wind power as part of the nation's total energy supply.
MPC researchers are in the process of drafting a white paper based on the prepared talks and discussion. This paper will be reviewed and potentially augmented by all invited speakers prior to the release of a final version for general distribution. MPC researchers also expect to prepare a brief paper that highlights the key technical challenges and policy issues facing ocean wind power, to be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed, large-circulation journal.