Seattle, WA (USA), November 24, 2009 – Principle Power is pleased to support Senate bill 2773, sponsored by Senator Susan Collins of Maine. Specifically, the bill requires the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to support the research, demonstration, and development of commercial applications for offshore wind energy.
“We commend the visionary leadership of Senator Collins, who has demonstrated a clear policy on our future domestic energy needs. Such direction will position the United States as a world leader in deep-water offshore wind technology,” said Alla Weinstein CEO of Principle Power, in response to the Senate bill. Principle Power believes that the US faces considerable challenges in meeting its current and future energy needs. Increased production of renewable energy, such as offshore wind energy, will create new “green” jobs and enhance our energy security by adding to the domestic energy supply.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has documented a pathway that identifies research and development priorities for 20% wind energy production by 2030. Approximately 18% or 54 gigawatts (GW) of this wind energy production could come from offshore projects. There are currently no operational offshore wind projects in the United States. In contrast, Europe has installed over 1.5GW of offshore wind capacity and currently has a pipeline of over 100GW, all of which are located in shallow and transitional water depths (<50m). Future US offshore wind installations will have to make use of established European technologies for shallow and transitional water depth deployments in addition to new technologies for deep-water deployments (>50m). Deep-water technologies will be of particular importance in the US given the continental shelf profile in both eastern and western coastal waters.
“This is an excellent application of US Federal tax dollars and we applaud Senator Collins’ proactive effort to support the development of a US offshore wind industry,” said Ms. Weinstein. “As one of only a few US companies currently developing commercial solutions for deep-water offshore wind energy, we feel the support provided by Senator Collins’ bill is crucial in acknowledging the present and future needs of the US energy market.”
“It is time for DOE to take a leadership role and work with other Federal agencies and States to help the US wind industry achieve world leadership in offshore wind technology. Maine has shown its desire to help lead the way and Principle Power is excited by the opportunity which Senator Collins’ bill presents,” said Des FitzGerald, Principle Power’s VP of Business Development in Maine.
