Wind Power to Spare The Enormous Energy Potential of Atlantic Offshore Wind Wind Power to Spare The Enormous Energy Potential of Atlantic Offshore Wind Written by: Gideon Weissman and Rachel J. Cross Frontier Group Rob Sargent Environment America Research & Policy Center March 2018 Acknowledgments Environment America Research & Policy Center thanks David Carr of the Southern Environmental Law Center, Liz Burdock of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, Nancy Sopko of the American Wind Energy Association, Nathaniel Greene of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Simon Mahan of the Southern Alliance for Clean En- ergy, Stephanie McClellan of the University of Delaware’s Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, and Val Stori of the Clean Energy Group for their review of drafts of this document, as well as their insights and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Dutzik and Elizabeth Berg of Frontier Group for editorial support. Environment America Research & Policy Center thanks the Barr Foundation, the John Merck Fund, the Mertz- Gilmore Foundation and the Sherman Foundation, for helping to make this report possible. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The recommendations are those of Environment America Research & Policy Center. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. 2018 Environment America Research & Policy Center. Some Rights Reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 Unported License. To view the terms of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0. Environment America Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. 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Layout: Alec Meltzer/meltzerdesign.net Cover photo of Block Island Wind Farm: Courtesy of Deepwater Wind Contents Executive Summary..................................................................1 Introduction...........................................................................5 Atlantic Offshore Wind Is an Abundant Clean Energy Resource ...........6 Offshore Wind Can Meet Much of the Region’s Electricity Needs . .7 Offshore Wind Can Power Electrified Heating and Transportation . .7 Most Atlantic States Have Abundant Access to Offshore Wind in the Waters off Their Shores ............................................................9 Offshore Wind Technology Is Advanced, Affordable and Proven..........10 Offshore Wind Is Proven ................................................................10 Today’s Offshore Wind Turbines Are Powerful and Technologically Advanced.............11 Offshore Wind Prices Are Falling Rapidly . .14 Offshore Wind Projects Are Proceeding All Along the Atlantic Coast . .16 Conclusion and Recommendations ..............................................20 Methodology . .21 Appendix..............................................................................22 Notes ...................................................................................23 Executive Summary he Atlantic coast states are dependent on fos- • Tapping into offshore wind can help meet future sil fuels, which pollute our air, put our health electricity demand created by electrifying activities at risk, and contribute to global warming. In currently powered by gasoline, natural gas and other Tresponse, states in the region are moving toward an fossil fuels, like transportation and heating homes energy system powered by clean, renewable sources: and businesses. If developed to its full potential, Atlantic states now generate enough wind and solar Atlantic offshore wind could supply double the energy to power nearly 2 million homes, 19 times estimated electricity it would take to power all more than just a decade ago.1 current electricity needs plus estimated electricity for electrified heating and electric vehicles.4 Yet to achieve a truly clean energy system, Atlantic states – which account for more than a quarter of the nation’s energy use – will need to tap into a massive Figure ES-1. Offshore Wind Energy clean energy resource that is right in our back yard: Potential on the Atlantic Coast5 offshore wind energy. With enough wind energy resources to generate four times the amount of electricity the region currently consumes, offshore wind can help pow- er the Atlantic coast with clean energy.2 In order to capture this tremendous pollution-free resource, state leaders must put in place strong policies to foster development of offshore wind, while ensuring the protection of our oceans and wildlife. Offshore wind is an abundant resource located close to where we need it most, and it can play a core role alongside other renewable energy sources in providing clean energy for the future. NREL Wind Power Class Darker Shade Indicates • Offshore wind off the Atlantic states could Be�er Wind Resource produce enough electricity each year to meet four 3 4 times those states’ electricity consumption (4,574 5 terawatt hours), even after excluding areas not 6 suitable for current technology and off-limits areas 7 like shipping lanes.3 Almost every Atlantic state (12 out of 14) has wind potential off its shores that exceeds current state electricity consumption. 1 Wind Power to Spare Figure ES-2. Offshore Wind Has the Technical Potential to Supply Double the Energy Demand for Current Electricity Needs Plus Estimated Demand for Electrified Vehicles and Heating6 5,000 4,500 4,000 Future Electried Heating 3,500 Future Electried Vehicle Fleet ) h 3,000 W 2016 Electricity Demand T Atlantic ( y 2,500 Oshore Wind g r e Technical n 2,000 E Potential 1,500 1,000 500 - Wind Potential Electricity Demand (Current and Estimated) Offshore wind technology is advanced, afford- and cheaper than a new nuclear plant over the able and proven. plants’ entire life cycles. • Offshore wind is proven. Europe is home to • Experts predict that offshore wind will continue 4,100 offshore wind turbines that supply to fall in price. Bloomberg New Energy Finance enough electricity to power more than 20 projects that the levelized cost of energy for million homes each day.7 In Denmark, offshore offshore wind will fall by 71 percent by 2040 wind supplied 15 percent of electricity use over relative to today’s prices.9 the first half of 2017.8 • Experience at home and abroad has shown that • Offshore wind turbine is advanced, and can gener- responsible development of offshore wind can ate more power, more efficiently than ever before. avoid harm to the environment and wildlife, For example, the turbines at the nation’s first including the North Atlantic right whale. offshore wind project in Rhode Island produce Offshore wind projects are already planned all 30 times more electricity each year than the first along the Atlantic coast. offshore wind turbines installed in Europe in the early 1990s. • More than 8 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind development are supported by state policy in five • Offshore wind has become affordable. Accord- Atlantic states. If state offshore wind targets and ing to Lazard, the average global levelized commitments are met, offshore wind in those cost of energy for new offshore wind fell by states would be able to generate electricity equiv- 27 percent from 2012 to 2017, to a cost that is alent to the power used by 3 million homes.10 comparable to a new coal-fired power plant Executive Summary 2 Figure ES-3. Turbines at Block Island Wind Farm Produce 30 Times More Electricity Each Year Than the First Offshore Turbines from 1991 30x Increase In Annual Power Generation Hub height: 100 meters Today's wind turbines are more powerful than ever before, allowing more ecient and more aordable use of our oshore wind Hub height: 35 meters energy resources. 1991 2016 World's rst oshore turbines America's rst oshore turbines Vindeby Wind Farm, Denmark Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island Annual power per turbine: 850 MWh Annual power per turbine: 25,000 MWh • As of February 2018, 13 Atlantic offshore wind Offshore wind has the potential to help repower projects had leases and were moving forward.11 the Atlantic coast with clean energy – but taking With a total estimated capacity of 14.2 GW, these advantage of the opportunity will require sup- proposed projects could power approximately 5.2 port from policymakers and regulatory bodies. million homes.12 Supportive policies include strong and enforce- able state offshore wind targets, policies to ensure • These in-development offshore wind projects a strong market for offshore wind, investments in could produce a fifth as much energy as we could research, and efforts to work with the federal Bureau get annually from Atlantic offshore oil and gas, of Ocean Energy