June 1, 2009

Gone with the Wind

Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, Editor-in-Chief

Not a 1:1 Replacement Option

Salazar stated that 1,000 GW of East Coast offshore wind turbines could replace 100% of our nation’s electricity supplies (approximately 1,000 GW). He gave the same estimate of offshore wind power potential in testimony to the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resource Committee on March 17. But a typical offshore wind park along the Atlantic coast would have a capacity factor of less than 30%, compared to a capacity factor for our coal and nuclear fleet in excess of 80%. That means to replace 1 kW of coal or nuclear capacity, you would need nearly 3 kW of rated wind capacity — and that’s not even considering the obvious production timing issues.

What about the cost of offshore wind power? The Ocean Energy Institute about a year ago proposed a giant 5,000-MW offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Maine estimated to cost $5,000/kW. Extrapolating that estimate to 334,462 wind turbines I calculated above produces an estimate with so many zeroes my calculator gives me a zero overflow error.

I believe that our future energy policy should include the private development of those offshore locations that can be economically developed, like the Cape Wind project. However, to represent offshore wind as capable of supplying the nation’s entire electricity needs is just pure bluster.