Delaware Free News has reported that testing will begin for an underwater wind power cable that could one day extend into Delaware.
According to the website, the cable is tied to a proposed US Wind offshore wind project near Ocean City, MD.
Delaware Free News also reported that a power line could run from an area near Fenwick Island on the Delaware border to the windfarm. The line would also extend into the Indian River,in Delaware near the current coal and gas-fired power plant complex of NRG.
Plans call for US Wind to install 187 total turbines water, over approximately 80,000 acres a dozen miles off the coast from Ocean City. A substation will collect the energy from the turbines and transmit the electricity to the shore using underwater cables.
The Maryland project is expected to produce up to 750 MW of power, which will meet 100 percent of Maryland’s off-shore wind renewable energy goals. It amounts to enough power for more than 500,000 Maryland homes or slightly more than the total number of homes in Delaware.
The project is anticipated to come online in early 2020, US Wind reported.
A similar Bluewater Wind project off the Delaware coast is on hold.
NRG now owns Bluewater Wind, but has been struggling with problems with its generation business. In dropping the Bluewater project, it cited a failure to get financing.
Also, offshore wind projects have struggled with low energy prices, opposition from those objecting to the views of wind turbines and concerns about bird deaths.
Backers of offshore wind have called for electric cable systems that would connect wind farms off the coast as a way to deal with variations in generation from wind condition.
Research from the University of Delaware has long suggested that offshore wind could supply much of the power for the East Coast.
However, a recent study from UD also found that wind conditions are more volatile than first thought. That could lead to the need for wind turbine design changes to account for more choppy conditions and perhaps different placement for turbine locations.