1. Salazar Signs Approves Cape Wind and Signs Submerged Land Lease
In April, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar granted federal approval to Cape Wind’s long-suffering offshore wind project slotted for construction in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts. In October, Salazar took the stage at AWEA’s Offshore Wind Conference in Atlantic City and signed the first ever submerged land lease for an offshore renewable energy project. As a conference attendee and witness, I admit that I may have teared up—but just a little!
2. Google Invests in Atlantic Wind Connection Backbone Transmission Cable
In October, internet giant and financial juggernaut Google announced its intentions to invest undisclosed, but potentially enormous sums of money to build an undersea cable to connect and transmit energy from offshore wind projects to distribution centers between New Jersey and Virginia. The project, known as the Atlantic Wind Connection, filed a plan with the FERC on December 21.
3. New Jersey Enacts Offshore Wind Economic Development Act
Speaking of transmission and infrastructure, New Jersey enacted legislation that not only calls for the production of at lease 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind generation, but also offers direct financial incentives to businesses that build manufacturing, assemblage, and water access facilities for qualified offshore wind projects. These incentives include tax credits and funding from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).
4. MMS becomes BOEMRE in the wake of the Gulf Spill; BOEMRE to Handle Offshore Wind Regulation
Following the tragic and unfathomably destructive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration restructured and renamed the former Mineral Management Services and created the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Although some un-named (and snarky) industry insiders have been known to pronounce the new DOI bureau acronym as “bummer”, there is nothing depressing about the new “Smart from the Start” initiative that BOEMRE will be overseeing in the New Year!
5. Salazar Introduces Streamlined Permitting Process: “Smart from the Start”
In response to resounding complaints from project developers, financiers, and just about everyone else with an interest in offshore renewables, DOI Secretary Salazar announced a revised permitting process designed to eliminate regulatory redundancies and “needless red tape.” The new program, which Secretary Salazar's office has titled "Smart from the Start", and which began with BOEMRE’s immediate identification of several designated Wind Energy Areas in November, hopes to diminish the length of the permitting process by two to five years.
6. Deepwater Wind Announces a 1,000 MW Project for the Rhode Island Sound
In early December, Deepwater Wind announced that it has revised its original plan for a 100 turbine, 350 megawatt wind farm and has instead submitted plans for federal approval for a 1,000 megawatt wind farm in the Rhode Island Sound. The plan also includes a transmission line that would distribute electricity produced by the project to distribution centers between Massachusetts and New York.
7. 1603 Renewable Energy Tax Credit Extended for Another Year
In late December, Congress passed a one-year extension of the 1603 renewable energy investment tax credit as part of a multi-billion dollar tax cut package. The tax credit could provide a financial boost to offshore wind projects if construction begins before December 31, 2012.
8. Various Utility Commissions Reject, Approve, Reconsider and Litigate Various PPA Agreements for Proposed Projects
In March, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission rejected a power purchase agreement for Deepwater Wind’s Block Island project (starting at 24.4 cents per kilowatt hour) as “commercially unreasonable.” Rhode Island legislators then directed the commission to reconsider and the contract was approved. The PPA has been challenged yet again though, and the RI Supreme Court is expected to address the issue in 2011.
Likewise, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved National Grid’s PPA with Cape Wind. This PPA has also been challenged.
9. Maine Takes The Lead In Deep Water Floating Turbine Technology
Following a 2009 DOE Grant, Dr. Habib Dagher and his team at the University of Maine Advanced Structures & Composite Center have taken the lead in the U.S. market with regard to developing floating turbines designed for deep water wind farms. Maine has identified and approved three test areas in state waters where the team plans to test its floating turbines.
10. Steelworkers Union Files Trade Case Against China
In early September, the Steelworkers Union filed a 5,800 page petition with the office of the US Trade Representative to the WTO alleging that China has made unfair use of billions of doallars of subsidies, and has instituted performance requirements preferential practices and other "trade-illegal activities to advance its domination of the [renewable energy] sector." The focus of the USW's latest petition is the export to the US of Chinese-made equipment for alternative energy projects like land based and offshore wind turbines and solar-energy projects. The Union's petition identifies five major areas of "protectionist and predatory practices used by the Chinese to develop their green sector at the expense of production and job creation here in the US." These five areas include:
a. Restrictions of access to critical materials;
b. Prohibited subsidies contingent on export performance or domestic content;
c. Discrimination against imported goods and foreign firms;
d. Technology transfer requirements for foreign investors; and,
e. Trade-distorting domestic subsidies.
On Oct. 15, the U.S. Trade Representative announced its intention to proceed with further investigation of the case. On December 22, the US Trade Representative announced that it will be seeking World Trade Organziation dispute resolution with regard to China’s Subsidies for Wind Power Equipment Manufacturers.
