Kevin Register is a resident of Camden.
I saw in the news that the Delaware Court of Chancery has ruled in favor of the state of Delaware regarding the controversial lawsuit tied to the US Wind project, by rejecting a lawsuit filed by Sussex County and the town of Fenwick Island. Well, so much for what Delaware’s public thinks of this project. Have any of our elected politicians who are in favor of this idea ever looked at the overall operations and maintenance costs added to the consumers for offshore-generated wind energy? It’s astronomical! An offshore wind project is a money-hungry investment. Maintaining these offshore wind turbines requires specialized ocean vessels, work barges, crane-type helicopters and vessels to transport personnel and equipment to install and perform preventive maintenance, on a daily basis, weather permitting. Not to mention, Delaware has no real deep-water port marinas to moor these vessels and aircraft. That’s another issue added to the equation: the added air and ship traffic in the lower Delaware Bay area. The shipping lanes are always busy, and the airspace is occupied by the Salisbury Regional Airport, the Dover Air Force Base, the Newark Liberty International Airport and other small airports in New Jersey. Who is going to be responsible for coordinating the contractor’s ship and aircraft traffic during construction and years of maintenance?
After doing some extensive research into costs associated with offshore wind farm maintenance, I found a cost range from $40-$60/kilowatt/year, or roughly 23%-30% of the total levelized cost of energy. Operational and maintenance costs are somewhere around 23% of the total project investment, driven by specialized equipment averaging $20,000 to $30,000 pre-visit for offshore maintenance issues and unexpected failures due to the extremely hostile environment that the turbines have to endure every day. The hostile environment I’m referring to is constant saltwater spray causing corrosion to external and internal parts, bird strikes to the propellers, ice buildup on the propellers during winter nor’easters, lightning strikes and mechanical and gearbox failures, etc.
The overall cost of the preventive maintenance over a long period of time is my huge concern. Who is going to pay for the maintenance and upkeep on these wind turbines offshore, once they are put into service? I know: the consumer. The investors are only looking at the subsidies affiliated with this project, not the additional end cost to the consumer to buy into green energy. What is it going to cost the Delaware consumers!? The real decision is a consumer cost analysis. What would be the cost to install offshore wind and all its associated substations, then maintain this equipment over a long period of time out in the middle of the ocean? How long would it take to see a consumer electric invoice price drop? Who’s footing the bill? The state? Taxpayers/consumers? Because nothing’s free! I hope you stand by the citizens of Sussex County on this issue, as offshore wind is not the answer to Delaware’s ever-growing power demand.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
