Salazar’s offshore wind turbines are too good to be true

As spring roles around and the weather patterns shift toward warmer climates in the U.S., many are anxiously awaiting the arrival of summer to get outside and soak up some sun. And where better to get some rays than the coastal waterfronts, right? Well, besides being a hotspot for residents and tourists alike, the coast could also be a hotspot for new wind energy projects.

According to a press release by U.S. Department of the Interior, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar met with 25X’25 America’s Energy Future to announce his hopes to use the offshore areas to generate wind power and energy. He hopes to use the more than one and a half billion acres of shoreline that the Interior owns to produce clean energy through the use of alternative energy generators like turbines.

Salazar utilized the research done by The National Renewable Energy Lab to demonstrate his plan. With class 5 wind potential off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, the Lab identified about 1,900 gigawatts of energy potential that would exceed the current electricity demand in the United States. The plan, if it worked, would change the landscape of the offshore areas, but would also help solve some of the energy dependencies the U.S. possesses.

So would it work?

The thought of installing turbines over hundreds of millions of acres of offshore zones seems like a daunting task and definitely an economic nightmare.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the cost of the offshore wind turbine is only a small portion of the actual project budget. Out of the whole financial plan, almost 50% of the costs would be for the platform that keeps the turbines buoyant and the maintenance that keeps them in decent shape. Another 15% would be needed for the undersea transmission cables. That means the project would be an expensive one to say the least.

The technology for this type of project is certainly sufficient considering there are similar offshore initiatives in place by gas and oil companies, but the technology to manufacture and maintain these turbines is simply too expensive.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of energy independence and sustainability, but it is a huge financial burden to put in offshore turbines at this time. It is like handing out TV antennas before the big switch to digital TV. My hope would be that companies start investing significant amount of resources into making this an economical reality, instead of an economic nightmare.