An Oregon task force has dealt a setback to Principle Power’s 24MW WindFloat Pacific offshore wind pilot project.
The Offshore Wind Advisory Committee said utilities should not be required to buy the electricity generated by the project because of the high cost to ratepayers. The power would be about four times as expensive as electricity from onshore turbines.
Governor Kate Brown “will follow the committee’s recommendation,” press secretary Chris Pair told reNEWS.
Brown appointed the committee in 2015 to “identify viable pathways to procure the Windfloat project in Oregon” after utilities balked at buying the output.
The governor has no other plans to support the project, said Pair.
Partners Principle Power and Deepwater Wind propose to anchor up to three floating turbines 18 miles off Coos Bay in waters 350 metres deep. The proponents could not be reached for comment.
In a November presentation to the committee, Principle estimated the project would have a levelized power purchase agreement price of $290 to $310 per MWh.
The developer named Vigor Industrial as the preferred fabrication contractor and Sause Brothers of Coos Bay as the preferred contractor.
The federal Energy Department awarded $47m to the $250m demo. However the project must meet certain milestones by May 2016, including the framework for an offtake agreement, to qualify for ongoing funding.
The DoE in 2015 deployed an Axys Technologies lidar-equipped buoy at the site to help characterize the wind resource.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is expected to conclude a review of the project construction and operation plan and begin preparing an environmental assessment in the coming months.
Image: a WindFloat demo (Demowfloat)
Setback for WindFloat in Oregon
Advisory committee says utilities do not have to buy power from project
By EBS