Building commercial wind turbines off Maryland's Atlantic coast could well produce enough electricity to meet the state's goals for generating renewable energy - but significant hurdles must be overcome to realize that potential, a new study says.
So says a new study by the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research.
"Offshore wind is not a slam dunk for Maryland, but the potential remains very strong," says Matthias Ruth, the study's principal investigator and director of the UM center. "It's economically feasible and environmentally advantageous, but will require some tough trade-offs, compromise and collaboration between public and private sectors."
Offshore turbines are increasingly common in Europe and elsewhere, but have yet to be built in the United States. Various economic, political and technical issues must be resolved the study says.
The recent pullback by Constellation Energy from seeking to build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs may boost the momentum for offshore wind, the report says.
Also helping was the recent announcement by a Google-led investment group of its plans to underwrite development of an offshore wind transmission grid along the East Coast. Maryland has joined with neighboring Mid-Atlantic states in seeking to coordinate its wind development.
Getting electricity from wind turbines off Maryland appears to be much less costly if the transmission lines come ashore on the Delaware coast - an estimated $20 million at Bethany Beach versus $200 million near Ocean City, the report says.
There's also potential for turbines off Maryland's coast to interfere with radar operations at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, and with radar on military ships and planes in the area, the report notes.
To read the full report, go here.
(Thanet offshore wind project southeast coast of England. Photo via AFP/Getty, supplied by Vattenfall, Swedish state-owned utility operating the turbines.)