Planned Wind Farm In Queens Stirs Debate Over Renewable Power
Project is first public-private partnership between power companies and state
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:36:00
While officials and residents grapple with the Gulf Coast oil spill, Gov. David Paterson has joined a group of nine other governors to promote a different kind of off-shore energy facility—massive ocean wind farms, with the first one planned for a Queens coastline.
The New York project, planned 14 miles offshore from the western end of the Rockaway Peninsula, is being spearheaded by the New York Power Authority, Long Island Power Authority and Con Edison.
This is the first public-private partnership between power companies and the state.
Paterson, who chaired the Renewable Energy Task Force as lieutenant governor, has committed millions of dollars to renewable energy projects under the Renewable Portfolio Standard Program, funding wind projects in upstate and western counties and this downstate site. Patterson wants to have 45 percent of the state’s power come from clean- energy sources, and says that such investment would help New York’s economy in the long run.
Estimates for the cost of the Queens wind farm peg it at up to $1 billion, paid for by the power companies, the future developer of the site and the state. When both phases are completed, in either 2016 or 2017, the aim is to provide enough power for 250,000 households.
The impact of wind farms on the larger energy production picture, though, is still minimal.
“People need to be realistic about expectations,” said Jerry Nappi, the communications manager at Indian Point Energy, the nuclear power plant in Westchester that powers two million households in Westchester and New York City. “Wind and solar are not operating around the clock. It’s questionable whether you’d want to rely on them completely. Once the sun goes in and the wind stops, there needs to be another form of energy.”
Wind farm production has surged in New York, with 10 farms built since 2007. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority made the push for small private wind- farm production by publishing an “energy toolkit,” which explains ways for private homeowners to use small turbines for power. But these have yet to displace more conventional energy sources.
The state’s largest wind farm, the Dutch Hill/Cohocton Wind Farm in Steuben County, can only generate 125 megawatts of power. The ocean plant, by contrast, will produce an estimated 700 megawatts. To make renewable wind energy more significant to the state’s power grid, it would need to build more large-scale wind farms, which will need land and money.
Putting the farm far out into the ocean avoids many of the problems found with current wind farms in the state—with turbines located far off from view from the shore, residents can’t complain about noise or unsightliness issues.
City Council Member Eric Ulrich, who represents a portion of the Rockaway peninsula, said he is excited for the program, adding that there is “no price too high” for a facility that will promote job growth and provide clean energy.
“It fulfills our social responsibility—to ourselves, our community and our future world,” he said. “Eventually we’ll have more places like this, and we can move away from dependence on foreign energy.”
Jonathan Gaska, the president of Community Board 14 in Rockaway, said residents’ main concern is aesthetics—and the possibility of lower fuel rates.
“If I live on the water, and I get up and look at the beautiful ocean—what am I going to see?” he said. “And does it mean reduced rates for us?”
The power companies, excited at the possibility of cleaner energy options in New York, are focused less on the cost, and more on the possible environmental impact of the site.
“We’re lowering our carbon footprint,” said Kevin Law, President and CEO of LIPA.
“But there are concerns with migratory birds, so an avian study will be consulted. We’re also sensitive to fishing industries and concerns about aquatic life.”
Despite the mounting excitement from local officials, the project is still in its infancy, with turbine manufacturing sites being planned for Long Island and the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, as well as docking stations to bring supplies and workers to the ocean site.
And while the final job number and economic impact will not be known until the end of the year, the massive project will bring short-term and longer-term boosts to local businesses and offer employment for residents, officials say.
Law said LIPA and the other power companies involved were hoping this first plant will provide a model for similar offshore sites, and plan to build more wind plants like it.
“I’d rather be installing windmills in the ocean than oil wells,” Law said.
The New York project, planned 14 miles offshore from the western end of the Rockaway Peninsula, is being spearheaded by the New York Power Authority, Long Island Power Authority and Con Edison.
This is the first public-private partnership between power companies and the state.
Paterson, who chaired the Renewable Energy Task Force as lieutenant governor, has committed millions of dollars to renewable energy projects under the Renewable Portfolio Standard Program, funding wind projects in upstate and western counties and this downstate site. Patterson wants to have 45 percent of the state’s power come from clean- energy sources, and says that such investment would help New York’s economy in the long run.
Estimates for the cost of the Queens wind farm peg it at up to $1 billion, paid for by the power companies, the future developer of the site and the state. When both phases are completed, in either 2016 or 2017, the aim is to provide enough power for 250,000 households.
The impact of wind farms on the larger energy production picture, though, is still minimal.
“People need to be realistic about expectations,” said Jerry Nappi, the communications manager at Indian Point Energy, the nuclear power plant in Westchester that powers two million households in Westchester and New York City. “Wind and solar are not operating around the clock. It’s questionable whether you’d want to rely on them completely. Once the sun goes in and the wind stops, there needs to be another form of energy.”
Wind farm production has surged in New York, with 10 farms built since 2007. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority made the push for small private wind- farm production by publishing an “energy toolkit,” which explains ways for private homeowners to use small turbines for power. But these have yet to displace more conventional energy sources.
The state’s largest wind farm, the Dutch Hill/Cohocton Wind Farm in Steuben County, can only generate 125 megawatts of power. The ocean plant, by contrast, will produce an estimated 700 megawatts. To make renewable wind energy more significant to the state’s power grid, it would need to build more large-scale wind farms, which will need land and money.
Putting the farm far out into the ocean avoids many of the problems found with current wind farms in the state—with turbines located far off from view from the shore, residents can’t complain about noise or unsightliness issues.
City Council Member Eric Ulrich, who represents a portion of the Rockaway peninsula, said he is excited for the program, adding that there is “no price too high” for a facility that will promote job growth and provide clean energy.
“It fulfills our social responsibility—to ourselves, our community and our future world,” he said. “Eventually we’ll have more places like this, and we can move away from dependence on foreign energy.”
Jonathan Gaska, the president of Community Board 14 in Rockaway, said residents’ main concern is aesthetics—and the possibility of lower fuel rates.
“If I live on the water, and I get up and look at the beautiful ocean—what am I going to see?” he said. “And does it mean reduced rates for us?”
The power companies, excited at the possibility of cleaner energy options in New York, are focused less on the cost, and more on the possible environmental impact of the site.
“We’re lowering our carbon footprint,” said Kevin Law, President and CEO of LIPA.
“But there are concerns with migratory birds, so an avian study will be consulted. We’re also sensitive to fishing industries and concerns about aquatic life.”
Despite the mounting excitement from local officials, the project is still in its infancy, with turbine manufacturing sites being planned for Long Island and the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, as well as docking stations to bring supplies and workers to the ocean site.
And while the final job number and economic impact will not be known until the end of the year, the massive project will bring short-term and longer-term boosts to local businesses and offer employment for residents, officials say.
Law said LIPA and the other power companies involved were hoping this first plant will provide a model for similar offshore sites, and plan to build more wind plants like it.
“I’d rather be installing windmills in the ocean than oil wells,” Law said.
