Liberty's Blog: Off the Coast Wind Power

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Off the Coast Wind Power

Wind Energy Systems Technologies is planning on constructing 50 wind powered generators about 7 miles off the coast of Galveston.

The state, which has jurisdiction out to 10 miles along the Texas Gulf Coast, has agreed to lease 11,355 acres to Galveston-Offshore Wind, LLC, about seven miles off of Galveston Island. The company is a division of Wind Energy Systems Technologies, or W.E.S.T., of New Iberia, La.

Construction of the Texas project is expected to be completed within five years and cost about $300 million. W.E.S.T. plans to build about 50 wind turbines, expected to produce 150 megawatts of wind energy - enough to power about 40,000 homes.

The first phase will be construction of two meteorological towers to collect wind data, which already have been permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Patterson said.

Data collected by the towers will help pinpoint where in the lease area to construct the turbines.

The 30-year lease agreement is expected to generate at least $26.5 million for the state's Permanent School Fund for public education. The project also will help fulfill the state's new goals of increasing the percentage of energy produced by renewable resources, Patterson said.

The appeal for a Louisianna company to build in Texas is about the lack of red tape and a smoother application process. The Houston Chronical explains:

Meanwhile, Texas has 17 wind farms generating 1,407 megawatts of energy — enough to power 375,000 residences — and six more in various stages of approval, according to the American Wind Energy Association. And unlike in most other states, the General Land Office controls coastal waters out 10 miles, limiting the number of federal agencies needed to sign off on the proposal.

Red tape caused delays in building the generation plants on old oil platforms off the coast of Louisianna . The good folks here in Texas also recognise that that we need electricity and aren't expected to give rise to a large outcry of these things. A few windmills 7 miles away will hardly noticable.

"When we found out we would have considerable delay in building our first wind farm in Louisiana, we went to Texas," Schellstede said.

Controversy over coastal views, along with jurisdiction issues, has delayed the wind farm in Nantucket Sound, first proposed in 2001.

"Aesthetics has been the major issue," said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Cape Wind Associates, the company behind the project, under review by 17 federal and state agencies. "I don't know if (Texas will be first). They have a much simpler permitting process than we do"

Texas coastlines also are no stranger to industry. The issue of turbines destroying the view is unlikely to be a problem in this state, where platforms and other industrial structures can be seen from most beaches, state and company officials and environmentalists said.

"If you were having a drink at the elevation of the Seawall, you wouldn't see them," Schellstede said of the turbines. "On the top floor of a hotel, you may see the very tips of them"

Schellstede might be a little fiull of crap, because one can see a good size boat at about 10 miles away . One should be able to see them at beach level. Birds getting tangled with the blades is the major enviormental concern. If migratory birds are attracted to roost on them it could be disasterous for some species.

Studies have shown that birds can be killed by becoming trapped in the large rotating blades of a wind turbine, although recent modifications to the structures have reduced the kill. But little research has been done on the impact of wind farms to coastal and migratory bird species in Texas, which is at the crossroads of numerous flyways that draw millions of tourists — and tourist dollars — to the coast each year.
By studying the rhythms of the migration for a year or more, Schellstede hopes to avoid the potential controversy. In an interview late last week, he said he would consider shutting down the turbines at peak migration and build the structures in a way that would not give birds places to roost.

"With respect to avian migration and coastal birds, we are putting it on the forward burner because we know we have to discuss this to bring the activists in that field as fellow travelers with us on this project," Schellstede said.
would be the company's first wind farm, but Schellstede has 37 years of experience in building platforms, pipelines and drilling rigs offshore.

The electricity generated by this will go into the grid that supplys Galveston. Via the Substation on 51st st. I won't count on it reducing my electric bill. We in the Galveston-Houston area pay among the highest in the country for our electricity. The higher price of fuels is what makes projects like this economically feasable, and can only help contain the rising costs of electricity.