Denmark and U.S. Cooperate on Offshore Wind
Denmark and the United States have signed a memorandum to strengthen cooperation on offshore wind energy projects.
The MOU was signed on May 4, at the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C., by Danish Ambassador Lars Gert Lose and Bureau of Offshore Energy Management Director Abigail Ross Hopper and recognizes their countries' common interests in developing offshore wind as a clean and sustainable energy source.
High priority is being given to:
• Promoting information sharing, best practices, and policy initiatives to support development and regulation of offshore wind energy resources.
• Working to identify and discuss challenges associated with financing and risk management for offshore wind energy facilities.
• Identifying opportunities for the sharing of best practices, regulatory approaches, and scientific models with regard to protection of the environment, including, but not limited to, the effects of offshore wind energy facilities on marine mammals, migratory birds, and cultural resources.
• Facilitating technical knowledge transfer related to electrical interconnection and grid integration of electricity generated from offshore wind energy facilities.
• Knowledge sharing on a wide range of offshore wind energy issues, including supply chain, offtake, grid integration/interconnection, system planning to optimize offshore wind energy deployment, data on the benefits of offshore wind energy, and strategies for achieving cost reductions.
Deepwater Wind’s Block Island Wind Farm is the U.S.’s first offshore wind farm. Over 20 projects, totalling 15,650MW are in the pipeline involving capital investment of over $90 billion.
The U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy states that more than 4,000 GW of offshore wind power could be accessed in state and federal waters along the coasts of the United States and the Great Lakes. While not all of this resource potential will realistically be developed, the magnitude (approximately four times the combined generating capacity of all U.S. electric power plants) represents a substantial opportunity to generate electricity near coastal high-density population centers.
More than 60 percent of the U.S. offshore wind resource is located in areas with deep water, where the water is so deep that conventional foundations, large steel piles or lattice structures fixed to the seabed, are not practical.