VA 4 Wind: 8 Reasons It’s a Great Idea!
Virginia has one of the best sites in the world for offshore wind. A shallow outer continental shelf extending many miles out, combined with ample Class 5 (excellent) and 6 (outstanding) wind resources, means we could potentially meet 100% of our total energy demand from offshore wind turbines.
Wind is a clean, renewable resource. Unlike coal, oil, gas and uranium, offshore wind is a clean, renewable energy source, which can help Virginia meet its renewable energy targets. Offshore wind turbines emit no air pollution and don’t foul our rivers; they pose no risk of mercury poisoning; they do not cause asthma or other lung ailments. They require no mountaintop removal coal mining, produce no radioactive waste, do not spill toxic sludge onto our beaches, and do not consume scarce fresh water resources for washing coal or cooling generating plants.
Offshore wind is located where the demand is. Most major cities of the eastern U.S. are relatively near the coast. Offshore wind farms can provide power to these load centers without requiring long distance transmission lines. Here in Virginia, a wind farm twelve miles offshore from Virginia Beach could be readily integrated into the region’s high-voltage transmission grid by connecting to an existing 500 KV substation in Chesapeake. Connecting even larger amounts of offshore wind there could prevent the need to import additional coal-generated electricity from west of Virginia, and the need for new transmission lines that would have to cross our parks and historic places to bring power to northern Virginia.
Offshore wind is a proven, commercially available technology. Offshore wind offers an energy solution that can be adopted now. The technology is well-established worldwide, with offshore wind farms in ten countries, totaling more than 1,130 megawatts (MW). U.S. offshore projects are moving ahead in six other Atlantic states. Delaware has recently approved a 450 MW wind farm 11.5 miles off its coast, and a 420 MW wind farm in Nantucket Sound off the southern coast of Massachusetts has nearly completed federal review. Rhode Island and New Jersey have recently awarded projects of 400 MW and 350 MW, respectively. New York and Georgia also are studying offshore project sites for near-term development.
Virginia’s offshore wind development can start now. The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC) recently completed an ocean mapping study suggesting that a single study area twelve miles off Virginia Beach could accommodate 4 GW (4,000 MW) of offshore wind capacity — even after excluding areas used for U.S. Navy and NASA activities, shipping lanes, and dredge spoil disposal. VCERC has studied the engineering feasibility, cost, and economic development potential of Virginia’s offshore wind resource, and concluded that the immediate commercial opportunity would entail a 20-year build-out, ensure new career-length jobs in the Hampton Roads maritime industry, and create thousands of new jobs throughout the state, with a cost of energy less than that from a new coal-fired generating plant.
Offshore wind is affordable. Construction costs have soared for conventional power plants, and their fuel prices have increased under pressure from growing worldwide demand. Construction of an offshore wind farm currently costs only 30% more than a conventional coal plant for the same rated power capacity, and the “fuel” for a wind farm is free. Over the 25-year projected power plant life, using the range of volatility that coal prices have exhibited in the past year (ranging from $55 to $145 per ton), wind is the better investment. Wind becomes even more attractive when the cost of coal is adjusted to include carbon dioxide emission costs, either in the form of a carbon tax or a carbon cap-and-trade program, or in the form of carbon capture and sequestration processing costs. As an added comparison, construction of a nuclear power plant would cost approximately 50-70% more than an equivalent offshore wind facility, and would take far longer to permit, design, and build.
Offshore wind farms create jobs. The economic advantages of offshore wind are even greater when job benefits are considered. Construction, installation, operation and maintenance require a skilled labor force that can be hired and trained locally. Many of the components of wind turbines can also be fabricated locally, taking advantage of Virginia’s strong maritime industrial base.
The public supports offshore wind. A scientific survey by the University of Delaware found that over three-quarters of the state’s population supported the proposed offshore wind project, even if it is visible from shore. When offered a choice between the offshore wind project and an equivalent new generating plant using coal or natural gas, over 90% voted for wind, even if it were to cost more.
OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY RESOURCES:
Sierra Club Virginia Chapter: Wind energy off the Virginia coast: plentiful, renewable, and affordable
Fact Sheet: Wind energy off the Atlantic coast (pdf)
VCERC Fact Sheet
Sierra Club Virginia Chapter: Federal Renewable Energy lobby sheet (pdf)
American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative
Make a donation to the Virginia Chapter Sierra Club today!
