World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

January 4, 2004 – Vol.8 No.41

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The construction of offshore wind farms is more costly than their onshore counterparts in part because of the working environment. Seas can be cold, the water corrosive, waves and currents dangerous and powerful, and working on the bottom, when necessary, is dangerous for divers. The difficulty of working offshore adds to the overall cost of the project which later adds to the per kilowatt hour cost of the wind-generated electricity sold to the grid

But if equipment can be devised to simplify and speed up offshore wind turbine installation and associated electrical connections, then the cost goes down and becomes closer in competition with conventional energy.

Mayflower Energy, a division of Mayflower Corp, is so committed to offshore wind and the reducing the cost of installation, that it has just launched a new ship - the Mayflower Resolution - who’s propose is mainly installing offshore wind turbines.

The 428-foot (130.5 meter) vessel has six jacking legs that, once positioned on the bottom, can raise the entire ship 100 feet out of the water into the air, or more sensibly lock the ship in place in 100 feet of water. On board it can carry up to 10, 3.5 megawatt turbines and towers as well as a crew of 70 for installation work and ship operations.

Mayflower Resolution is now on its way from the Shanhaigquan shipyard in China to its home port in the U.K. Its progress around the world can be followed on the ship’s website. Aside from extensive photos of the ships construction and its specifications, Internet visitors can also see a large collection of photos of an offshore windfarm under construction using another Mayflower Energy ship.

Also at the site are photos of the company’s cable-laying rover which drives along the bottom burying electric cable between turbines and to shore. Pretty amazing stuff and a must-visit website.

Mayflower Energy plans to become a market leader in the field of offshore wind turbine installation, support and service by using a fleet of specialized installation vessels. Visit the Mayflower resolution at http://www.mayflower-energy.com/ .

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) the delay in passing an energy bill has caused 300 layoffs in the U.S. wind industry and slowed about $1 billion in wind investment.

The energy bill, which included a renewal of the production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy, was shelved late in 2003 over a provision that would let producers of MTBE gasoline additive off the hook for health and environmental damages.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said that the bill could be passed if the MTBE provision was removed. Republican energy bill manager Senator Pete Domenici said the bill won’t come up again until March.

That kind of delay would slow new wind development in the U.S. from an announced 1600 megawatts for 2004 down to 300-400 megawatts, said an AWEA spokesman according to news reports. Visit the AWEA at http://www.awea.org/

Total Energy Extractors - that’s the name of wind-wave-current devices that the coastal community of Burnham on Sea, Somerset in South West , England is considering building off its Bridgewater Bay coastline.

The Extractors - 20 of them - would be semi-submerged concrete pontoons with wind turbines mounted on top, wave energy devices installed at the water line, and tidal current generators underwater. The pontoons, too, would serve as an offshore breakwater to protect the community from flooding.

Bridgewater Bay spans the Somerset coast and has some of the highest waves and strongest tidal currents in Northern Europe. The first study commissioned by the town gave approval to the project. The U.K. Environment Agency backs the idea, but wants a more extensive study.