Offshore power : building renewable energy projects in U.S. waters

Library	Item Barcode	Call Number	Material Type	Item Category 1	Status
Searching... PSZ JB	30000010254272	TK1193.U5 M45 2009	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown
Searching... PSZ KL	33000000002073	TK1193.U5 M45 2009	Open Access Book	Book	Searching... Unknown

As the United States seeks ways to meet the ever-increasing power needs of its large coastal population areas, thereís a growing focus on the plentiful renewable energy resources located just offshore.

In their new book, energy experts Markian Melnyk and Robert Andersen outline the important new offshore options available to a nation on the threshold of a green revolution. The experience gained by early offshore oil and gas prospectors, as well as by more recent developers of European offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy projects, provide a wealth of knowledge that can be readily transferred to North American marine energy projects.

Whether youíre a developer, financial backer, or regulator, Offshore Power charts a course for long-term deployment of marine renewable energy facilities, and creates a compelling picture of a greener future.

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xvii
1 Stepping Off Dry Land: The Case for Offshore Renewable Energy	p. 1
Oil Volatility, Gas Volatility, and Economic Vulnerability	p. 1
Energy Insecurity	p. 4
The Connection between Oil and Power Generation	p. 10
Trending Toward Renewables	p. 12
A predictable energy system	p. 14
Corporate peer pressure	p. 17
Momentum grows for carbon reduction	p. 20
Reducing other pollutants and improving public health	p. 22
Coal, Nuclear, and Renewable Energy Alternatives	p. 24
The advantages of offshore siting close to population centers	p. 26
Public attitudes	p. 28
Opportunities for the Intrepid	p. 29
A Roadmap of This Book	p. 30
2 An Unfamiliar Environment: Offshore Conditions and Energy Resources	p. 31
Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Experience	p. 32
Offshore Challenges Drive Technological Progress	p. 34
Legal Boundaries in the Marine Environment	p. 37
Seabed Geology and Its Implications for Offshore Renewable Energy Projects	p. 38
The Oceans As Energy Collectors and Conveyors	p. 41
Wave behavior	p. 43
Comparing average to extreme storm waves to rank sites	p. 46
Tsunamis: A threat to ocean renewable energy projects?	p. 47
Ocean Currents	p. 48
Tides	p. 50
A foundation for progress	p. 51
3 Marvelous Machines: Harvesting Nature's Offshore Energy Crop	p. 53
An Antidote to Despair	p. 54
The Nantucket Sound Project	p. 55
Marine Wind Turbines	p. 57
Foundations, towers, and cables	p. 58
Future offshore wind turbines	p. 60
Offshore wind turbine design standards	p. 62
Wave Energy Converters	p. 65
Point absorbers	p. 66
Floating attenuators	p. 70
Terminators	p. 72
Overtopping devices	p. 74
Advancing wave energy technology	p. 74
Tidal and Ocean Current Energy Converters	p. 76
Tidal power: The predictable renewable	p. 76
Tidal range technology	p. 77
Free-flow tidal power turbines	p. 82
Ocean current energy	p. 85
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Devices	p. 86
4 Carving Out a Piece of the Shelf: Project Siting Decisions	p. 89
Organizing the Siting Analysis	p. 92
Markets where renewable power sells at a premium	p. 92
Existing transmission facilities	p. 95
Land-based staging areas	p. 96
Offshore energy resource strength	p. 96
Shipping lanes and safety zones	p. 99
Avian uses of the marine environment	p. 102
Marine mammals and other ocean dwellers	p. 108
Ocean dump sites	p. 109
Sand and gravel mines	p. 111
Offshore communications cables, pipelines, and sewer outfalls	p. 112
Offshore sites of historical interest	p. 112
Seabed geology	p. 113
Fishing grounds	p. 114
Airport flight paths and military training areas	p. 116
Radar interference	p. 116
Visual and other community impacts	p. 119
Merging hard and soft data	p. 121
5 Acquiring Rights to Project Sites: MMS and Offshore Renewables; FERC and Hydrokinetics	p. 123
MMS Leads the Leasing Process	p. 124
Interim policy for the collection of resource data and technology testing	p. 125
Acquiring an OCS alternative energy lease under MMS regulations	p. 126
Designing, Fabricating, and Installing a Facility	p. 142
Environmental and Safety Rules Applicable to MMS Leases	p. 145
Protected species	p. 148
Archaeological resources	p. 149
Safety management systems	p. 149
Decommissioning	p. 151
The FERC Hydrokinetic Licensing Process	p. 152
Legal basis for regulating hydrokinetic energy projects	p. 152
Preliminary permits	p. 154
Technology testing and site evaluation	p. 157
Licensing a commercial project	p. 161
6 Action and Its Impacts: Project Review under the National Environmental Policy Act	p. 167
Federal Environmental Requirements for Offshore Renewable Energy Projects	p. 168
The NEPA framework	p. 170
NEPA categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements	p. 171
Crafting an EIS	p. 175
Scoping	p. 177
Actions	p. 178
Alternatives	p. 178
Impacts	p. 179
Environmental impacts expected from offshore renewable energy facilities	p. 184
Agency development and issuance of the final EIS	p. 197
7 Nature and Machine Coexisting Offshore: Federal Protections for Natural and Cultural Resources	p. 199
Fish, Marine Mammals, and Birds	p. 199
Fish protection	p. 200
Marine mammal protection	p. 201
Bird protection	p. 203
Endangered Species'	p. 209
National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Marine Sanctuaries, and Monuments	p. 218
Historic Objects	p. 221
Lessons about the Effects of Offshore Renewable Energy on Wildlife	p. 223
8 Still More Permits: The Roles of Other Federal and State Agencies Reviewing Proposed Offshore Projects	p. 229
The Public Trust Doctrine and Water-Dependent Uses	p. 230
Coastal Zone Management	p. 232
Obstructions to Navigation and Dredged Materials Disposal	p. 237
Compliance with the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts	p. 240
Clean Water Act	p. 241
State CWA compliance certifications	p. 246
Oil spill prevention and response	p. 249
Clean Air Act	p. 250
Foreign-Built Construction Vessels	p. 253
Marine Navigation	p. 257
Air Navigation	p. 258
Aristocratic Opposition to Renewable Energy Facilities	p. 261
9 Renewable Energy Goodwill: Managing the Public Consultation Process	p. 263
A Nuclear Community	p. 263
Building on Common Goals, Understanding Differences	p. 264
Organizing public outreach and identifying stakeholders	p. 265
Engaging the stakeholders	p. 271
A Tempest in Nantucket Sound	p. 273
Culture, community, and the common good	p. 276
The Effect on Tourism	p. 280
Property Values	p. 281
Fishing Industry Objections	p. 282
Job Creation and Economic Development283
Comparing Offshore Renewable Energy to Traditional Energy Facilities	p. 285
Bird Deaths and Other Harm to Nature	p. 288
Rediscovering the "Can-Do" Spirit	p. 292
10 Connecting to the Grid: Adapting to Intermittent Renewable Energy Supplies	p. 293
Making the Grid Connection	p. 293
Apportioning Interconnection Costs among Project Developers and Transmission System Customers	p. 296
California's new approach to building renewable energy transmission	p. 296
Obtaining Permission to Interconnect with Existing Transmission Facilities	p. 298
Accommodating Intermittent Supplies	p. 304
Terrestrial and offshore wind energy differences	p. 307
Wind turbine capacity ratings	p. 309
Forecasting the wind and scheduling wind energy production	p. 312
The sea breeze effect	p. 314
Improving Grid Reliability with Wind Turbine Technology	p. 315
Transmission and Ancillary Services	p. 318
Transmission System Congestion and Locational Pricing	p. 324
11 Working the Numbers: Financing and Insuring Offshore Renewable Energy Projects	p. 329
Building the Financial Model	p. 329
Identifying risks and variables	p. 329
Estimating capital costs	p. 341
Operations and maintenance expenses	p. 344
Royalties and lease expenses	p. 346
Salvage value and decommissioning costs	p. 347
Government Incentives	p. 348
Renewable energy credits	p. 348
The production tax credit	p. 353
Accelerated depreciation	p. 356
Financing Alternatives	p. 357
Project financing	p. 357
Balance sheet and bond financing	p. 358
Structured portfolios	p. 359
Loan guarantees	p. 360
Insuring Novel Projects and New Technologies	p. 363
Protecting Revenues with Weather Derivatives	p. 369
12 Cultivating Disruptive Change: The Economic Challenge of Offshore Renewable Energy	p. 371
Offshore Wind Economics	p. 373
Pioneering Europeans	p. 373
Recent developments in offshore wind energy	p. 378
U.S. Offshore wind projects	p. 380
Attack economics	p. 385
Hydrokinetic Energy Economics	p. 390
Accelerating technological progress	p. 393
Colocation and Combination Facilities	p. 396
Offshore Renewables Compared to Alternate Energy Sources	p. 397
Promoting Offshore Renewable Energy	p. 402
Expand energy research and development, especially collaborative efforts	p. 403
Remove regulatory barriers	p. 404
Rationalize the incentive system by implementing a federal feed-in tariff	p. 405
Invest in renewable energy transmission	p. 405
Require traditional generation to internalize its pollution costs	p. 406
Disruptive change	p. 407
Notes	p. 409
Index	p. 447
About the Authors	p. 475

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