Offshore wind power park to energize Delaware homes

Unlike Rock Port, Missouri, the entire state of Delaware won't be 100-percent wind-powered after Bluewater Wind constructs a $1.6 billion wind park just off its shore, but the state will be able to "light about 50,000 homes a year" for the duration of the 25-year contract. Said agreement was just nailed down between the aforesaid firm and Delmarva Power, and it hopes to start powering homes via wind by 2012. The offshore site will sit around 12 miles off Rehoboth Beach, with a number of turbines to be planted 90-feet into the sea floor and sport three blades apiece measuring 150-feet long. It's noted that vacationers and locals alike won't be able to notice the park from the beach except on a few remarkably clear days, but if their energy bills sink because of it, we don't really think they'll mind, anyway.

[Metkis @ Jun 24th 2008 12:07PM]

But... can it..


ah just kidding. :P

[dj-kenpo @ Jun 24th 2008 12:26PM]

blend seagulls with the fan blades? yes. yes it can.

[Metkis @ Jun 24th 2008 12:29PM]

Thank god.

[ShadowKain @ Jun 24th 2008 1:02PM]

swallow up unsuspecting kites from the shore?

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 24th 2008 1:07PM]

now just because it got highly ranked this one time does not give you kids freedom to start using "will it blend" all willy-nilly again. metkis used wit and creativity, something you "will it blend"-ers wouldnt understand


haha blend-ers

[Ghen @ Jun 25th 2008 1:47PM]

Just an FYI to all those who might come to sight-see in Delaware... Rehoboth Beach is the gay beach, so just don't get THAT drunk.

Sorry for top posting ;)

[Keith MacDonald @ Jun 24th 2008 12:13PM]

Hurricanes?

[Rafer @ Jun 24th 2008 12:20PM]

More Wind?

[Rob @ Jun 24th 2008 12:22PM]

Right, because Delaware gets a lot of hurricanes every summer.

[Moose @ Jun 24th 2008 12:23PM]

I was wondering about that too, or just extremely large waves. I would think it would potentially crumple a wind turbine or do some serious damage.

And whatever happened to water turbine technology? Surely that's a better choice for supplying the massive coastal population than ringing the country in wind turbines...

[TrentD @ Jun 24th 2008 12:26PM]

Nor'easters and hurricanes have gone that far north before. If they're vulnerable to that type of damage, it would only take one to cause massive damage.

I'm sure they've thought of it, though.

I just hope it's not the same company that built the local university's library. The building is sinking into the ground because they forgot to account for the weight of the books while building the foundation...whoops.

[Keith MacDonald @ Jun 24th 2008 12:43PM]

Rob: I find your arrogant ignorance personally offensive. Google 'Delaware hurricanes' & drop the smug attitude.

Even if it gets downgraded to a tropical storm, such weather systems still pack enough energy to do serious damage. In any case, hurricanes are increasing in frequency & strength (global warming), making it increasingly likely that a devestating storm will get that far north.

I'm willing to assume they planned for such a contingency, I'm curious to know how exactly...

[t3_slider @ Jun 24th 2008 12:58PM]

"I just hope it's not the same company that built the local university's library. The building is sinking into the ground because they forgot to account for the weight of the books while building the foundation...whoops."

Ha ha, what a joke. You learned that during frosh week, didn't you?
http://www.snopes.com/college/halls/sinking.asp

[Ghen @ Jun 25th 2008 1:45PM]

I live in Delaware.. We rarely get any harmful winds / waves. We do get flooding but only because half the state is a flood plane. Weather-wise its a very calm state compared to other 'coastal' states.


As for the turbines, I'm sure if the wind gets high enough they will just turn freely, disconnect the generator and let them fly. There wouldn't be an engineer in the world that didn't think of the dangers a coastal community faces every single year.

[peekinde @ Jun 24th 2008 12:12PM]

50,000homes * 12mo/yr * 25yr * $50/mo/home < 1.6billion

[Eric @ Jun 24th 2008 12:18PM]

I don't know what fantasy land peekinde is in where the electric bill is only $50 a month !

This is a fantastic idea and we need more of these instead of drill for oil off our shores.

[Rob @ Jun 24th 2008 12:20PM]

$50 for electric bill. Is your pc and tv set the only thing you have running in your house. $115 is a more realistic bill for the average home. Actually, I'd give you my $475 bill I got last December if that helps your math.

[TrentD @ Jun 24th 2008 12:21PM]

By bill for my 1700 sq. foot house last month (average temp. of about 80 degrees outside) was $62.00.

I live in Kentucky.

[TrentD @ Jun 24th 2008 12:23PM]

"This is a fantastic idea and we need more of these instead of drill for oil off our shores."

So we're going to put these on our cars too?

There's going to be limited applications for wind power - there's a lot of up-front cost to construct the things, and they require certain conditions and a lot of room to operate efficiently. This looks like a pretty big field, but can only power 50,000 homes.

[peekinde @ Jun 24th 2008 12:27PM]

the avg american pays less than 100 per month! even if that city avg 200, its still a couple hundred million less than the cost of the project

[parki @ Jun 24th 2008 12:42PM]

I live in Ohio in a 2,500 sq. ft. home and my bill comes out to less than $100/month in the summer, half that in the winter. This is with quite a bit of computer equipment (at least 3 machines, network storage, wireless router, etc) running 24x7, plus the extra fee for "green" sourced electricity. I have gas heating and cooking. If we assume that most houses in Maryland make use of gas for cooking and heating, and that 50,000 home figure is for Maryland, then

50,000homes * 12mo/yr * 25yr * $100/mo/home < 1.6 billion

But on the other hand, it's a pretty safe bet that coal generated electricity will go up in price in the next 25 years, and the wind farm will gain a price advantage during that time.

[BlueThunder @ Jun 24th 2008 12:50PM]

This is not free power. Wind power is not free. Actually, it's costing Bluewater Wind constructs a $1.6 billion to build the infrastructure.

Here in TX (the number 1 generator of wind power) the cost for 100% renewable (i.e. Green Mountain wind/water) electricity generation is around $0.16/kWhr (could be more with rates increasing).

[Jimmy @ Jun 24th 2008 12:55PM]

As of 2001 here are the numbers

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/reps/enduse/er01_us.html

1,140 billion kWh per year for 107 million households yields an average of 888kWh per month per house.

The national average cost was about $0.10. In Delaware it was closer to $0.09. So the average Delaware home power bill would be about $80 per month.

If you do the straight math 50,000 homes times $80 per month times 12 months times 25 years you get a total of 1.2 Billion which is indeed less than the 1.6 Billion dollar contract. So based on that it looks like a losing proposition.

However, the article also states that this locks the price of electricity from that plant for the next 25 years. It does not take much change in the price of electricity to justify this. In fact at $0.12 instead of $0.09 per kWh the project is break even over 25 years.

[Chris @ Jun 24th 2008 1:25PM]

quote from article:

"The contract with Delmarva would use less than half the projected generating capacity the energy park is expected to have when completed. The rest would be sold to other customers."

So the 50,000 homes under Delmarva will only be using 1/2 the power generated.

[Andrew Corcoran @ Jun 24th 2008 1:23PM]

Proof of concepts shows an idea works; interest in idea spurs development in said idea; development of idea leads to greater efficiency in production of product or efficiency of product itself; greater efficiency/cost reduction increases viability.

Oh yeah, my APARTMENT had a $120 electric bill. So $50? Way off.

[Chris @ Jun 24th 2008 1:26PM]

quote from article:

"The contract with Delmarva would use less than half the projected generating capacity the energy park is expected to have when completed. The rest would be sold to other customers."

So the 50,000 homes under Delmarva will only be using 1/2 the power generated.

[tyler @ Jun 24th 2008 4:39PM]

Not sure here.. I live in a 1200 sq. ft. apartment and the only time my bill is OVER $50 is during the summer months with air conditioning running. I live in central Pennsylvania and have computers, game consoles, a couple TV's, and even a deep freezer running (so, a fair share of stuff sucking juice).

[Rob @ Jun 24th 2008 12:18PM]

Damn it, I need one of those. The only people that complain about having these things within sight are the rich. I don't particularly give a rat's behind about it. I'd put one in my backyard if it'd free me from my electric bill. I think we're being ran by a bunch of spoiled a--holes who don't care one bit for anyone else but themselves. If you don't like seeing these things in your horizon, then sell your property and move out of the area. I don't see anyone living in the MacMansions telling the power company to come over and remove the power lines near their homes. Greedy fu-king bastards.

[Argot @ Jun 24th 2008 3:42PM]

So the lesson is: Never try.

[Rob @ Jun 24th 2008 3:56PM]

I think I got too excited with my original comment. What I meant was that it upsets me when I read about people against having these wind turbines within sight because of cosmetics. I'm all for using them. They're not as bad looking as opponents would lead people to believe. I went to Europe a couple of months ago and saw them all over the place in southern Spain. I also saw their development of solar power farms. I'd love to see more of that States side as well. It'd be a wonderful thing when we all have our own small power generators, solar or wind, in our backyards producing enough power to run our homes and recharge our electric cars. I think it's possible.

[Thomas @ Jun 24th 2008 12:19PM]

Hurricanes? Where exactly do you think Delaware is?

I was wondering what the impact on commercial shipping would be. Although, I really don't know how far off the coast the ships are. I assume they put it in a non-obstructing path.

[Justin Turner @ Jun 24th 2008 12:36PM]

Since 2000, Delaware has been hit by literally a dozen hurricanes, with Isabel in 2003 resulting in the entire state being declared a federal disaster area. Delaware is a costal state with significant exposure to storm winds and surges. I'm sure these are designed with hurricanes in mind, but I do worry/wonder what would happen if a cat 4/5 were to ever hit the state.

And in response to the energy cost comments, in order to break even, the average bill needs to be $107. Similar to the guy in Kentucky, my bill was $61 for 1800 sq ft, and my AC unit is 21 years old, so hardly energy efficient. I live in MD where energy is not especially cheap - so I think the point here is that people's bills vary widely, but with bills out there around $500, I think $107 may be a reasonable average.

[kurt.tappe @ Jun 24th 2008 5:45PM]

Here is a map of the shipping lanes and how the wind farm has been placed between them:

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?template=zoom&Site=BL&Date=99999999&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=80623046&Ref=V1

[Eric @ Jun 24th 2008 12:50PM]

Keith,
When the wind speed gets above safe levels the blades automatically rotate their pitch thus stopping the blades from spinning. They are engineered to withstand extremely high wind speeds associated with hurricanes.

[Moose @ Jun 24th 2008 12:26PM]

By the way, to the doubters above, historically Hurricanes DO in fact travel as far up as Delaware and even New York. Its rare, but it has happened.

[m @ Jun 25th 2008 1:26AM]

i don't really understand why everybody is arguing about hurricanes, but here's my 2 cents. i've experienced quite violent hurricanes in western massachusetts (where i grew up) and on cape cod; they even go as far north as vermont. it's not like in new orleans, thank god, but they are fairly common and can do a lot of damage, especially since we don't build for them. the 1999 storm in new york city was pretty spectacular: skyscrapers were swaying in the wind, it washed out several train lines, and water was blowing out of sewers and some subways like they were geysers.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 24th 2008 12:28PM]

50,000 homes is approximately 200% the population of Delaware.

[Matt Merritt @ Jun 24th 2008 5:10PM]

Keeping in mind that this seems like it will primarily be supplying power to the Lewis-Rehobeth-Dewey-Bethany Beach area, whose population sky rockets during the summer months and drops off to relatively nil over the winter.

I can't say it's a bad idea, my house in Bethany Beach will benefit quite nicely.

[Zal @ Jun 24th 2008 12:46PM]

Population of Delaware: 783,600.

If you are suggesting that there are only 25,000 "homes" in Delaware, that means that each home has over 31 people living in it.

Try again.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 24th 2008 12:59PM]

Zal, you seem to be a stranger to sarcasm. Sorry if I upset you, but my girlfriend is from Delaware and I always crack jokes about how small and boring it is; hence the only reason I commented on this exciting article.

[phanbouy @ Jun 24th 2008 1:58PM]

Or, imagine, being able to be magically whisked away to... Delaware. Hi. I'm in Delaware.

[michas_pi @ Jun 24th 2008 7:22PM]

@Matt Merritt:

I go camping at Cape Henlopen every year and it's beautiful, along with Lewes and Rehobeth Beach.

Now, if they would only put windmills on those old World War II watch towers...

[Mike @ Jun 25th 2008 2:15PM]

I live in Bethany as well, and I think its a fantastic idea. I can't stand how some of the locals are fighting it, it doesn't make sense.

[mike @ Jun 24th 2008 12:42PM]

I'm from Delaware, and I think this is a fantastic idea. By the way, we do get occasional heavy storms and hurricanes every once in a while. There were radio commercials going on between Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind fighting about this for a while, so I'm surprised they reached an agreement.

[horizontaleight @ Jun 24th 2008 12:44PM]

This has also been proposed off the coast of Atlantic City.

[BLee @ Jun 24th 2008 12:44PM]

so pardon my ignorance,
but do these wind power parks have any adverse effect on the environment?
Do they cause hurricanes, tornadoes? Does the drawing of wind affect the surrounding environment?
Or like in Southland Tales, will it bring upon the end of the world?

[phanbouy @ Jun 24th 2008 1:59PM]

i heard it's mostly legit, except for the world ending part

[brich @ Jun 24th 2008 1:05PM]

I've lived in MD for 35 years and the last time our bill was below $100 I was still in high school.

As for hurricanes. It is rare for one to hit this area and I suspect if we were hit, broken wind turbines would be the least of our problems.

[Erik C Morris @ Jun 24th 2008 1:11PM]

Actually Peekinde has the right idea, just to recover the cost of infastructure would be about 110.00 per month, not including overhead for Bluewater, and what they are going to charge per Kw/h. So at figure about 160.00 + per month thats not a rate decrease...i pay about 70.00 per month....2000 Sqr Ft. in Indiana

[David Gayler @ Jun 24th 2008 6:42PM]

I know nothing of Delaware, but does the wind alway blow off shore there? And when it stops, do the good people of Delawre just curse and not demand electricity to go about their normal lives? Or do they too expect back up plants of the same size as the wind farm to keep them going on dull days?

I also just wonder where the 10% (or more, from UK experience)maintenance costs are to be carried. $160,000,000 pa would seem quite a lot for only 50,000 homes to have to shoulder, after they've paid the erection costs.

Here these things have been shown to fail every kind of impartial analysis, but the schemes keep on rolling in and voters want to believe, so the govt keeps on pretending they are a really good idea and aren't they really 'politicians in the mainstream of modern power thinking'.

D