The Block Island Wind Farm means many things to many Rhode Islanders. Jobs? Lower electricity rates? Disastrous spoiling of a pristine view? Necessary alternative to the current generating facility? Amazing artificial reef? We don’t know, but we’re just sayin’, whenever this amount of money is at stake there are winners and losers. Investors vs local stakeholders? Block Island residents and the rest
of us Rhodies? Fisherman vs well, fishermen? We reached out to the PR folks for Deepwater Wind, the company which owns this project. They referred us to the website and we haven’t heard a word since. The folks at Deepwater Wind were kind enough to provide us with the basics on the website: The Block Island Wind Farm is a 30 megawatt (nameplate) demonstration-scale offshore wind farm approximately three miles southeast of Block Island consisting of 5 turbines. The wind farm is located entirely in Rhode Island state waters. The wind farm will generate over 125,000 megawatt hours annually, supplying the majority of Block Island’s electricity needs. Excess power will be exported to the mainland via the bi-directional Block Island Transmission System. Deepwater Wind plans to begin construction as early as 2014.
Our friend Chris Willi of Block Island Fish Works sent us an especially well-thought out set of comments which we’ll include next month. We attended the Newport Chamber of Commerce annual meeting this week and was interested to note that the Navy’s approach (putting wind farms on land vs sea) to generating 25% of their power by wind is a bit different. What is happening with power generation by wind in Portsmouth?
We’ll be writing a more substantive article in June, and want your thoughts. Note that the AWEA OFFSHORE WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition is coming to Providence in October. This global event “will bring together exhibitors and attendees from all over the world who are interested in becoming players in this new and highly promising market.” We’ll be there listening and would like to sure they hear your thoughts and concerns.
Please let us know what you think. Who are the losers? Winners? Concerns? How do we make sure Rhode Islanders get jobs, from turbine maintenance to a potentially lucrative artificial reef? Let us know: Lisad@coastalanglermagazine.com
Coastal Angler Magazine Rhode Island readers are weighing in on this issue by email
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