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3. July 2008
MASSACHUSETTS DEEPWATER WIND ENERGY PROJECT
Blue H USA announces Massachusetts Congressional
Support for Offshore Wind Demonstration Project
On Thursday, July 3, 2008, Blue H USA, LLC (“Blue H”) announced that it has received a letter of support
from the entire Massachusetts Congressional Delegation to the Minerals Management Service requesting
consideration of its Massachusetts deepwater wind energy demonstration project in federal waters
located 23 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and 45 miles off the coast of New Bedford. In the
letter sent to the U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service dated June 26, 2008, the
Massachusetts Congressional Delegation stated, “We therefore encourage you to review and consider
the application submitted by Blue H USA, which could prove beneficial for developing future renewable
energy resources for Massachusetts and the nation.”
“We commend the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation for its leadership in recognizing and
identifying the potential for deepwater offshore wind energy development in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts“, stated Ray Dackerman, the General Manager of Blue H USA LLC. Dackerman further
stated, “Blue H looks forward to receiving federal approval for our demonstration project, proving the
efficacy of our technology, and ultimately generating clean, green, renewable cost effective power for the
benefit of the people of Massachusetts – while creating green technology domestic jobs for the state.
The signing of the recent visionary energy bill by Governor Patrick is also an indication that
Massachusetts can be a national leader in energy conservation and renewable energy projects and Blue
H looks forward to being a significant contributor to this effort.”
“With the regulatory framework from the Minerals Management Service soon in place, we believe that the
U.S. will rightfully become a significant player in the emerging deepwater wind energy industry”, said Neal
Bastick, the CEO for Blue H Technologies BV. “Specifically, Massachusetts has outstanding offshore
winds and the leadership now in place to benefit from its clean, renewable energy resources.
Furthermore, many of the pioneers in the wind energy industry have emerged from Massachusetts which
will be a valuable asset as we move forward with our U.S. development efforts in New England generally
and in Massachusetts in particular.”
Martin Reilly, spokesman for Blue H USA LLC stated that, “The entire Massachusetts Congressional
Delegation deserves great credit for recognizing the seriousness of our state and nations energy crisis
and for firing the first shots in our nation’s battle for energy independence - while providing the leadership
in taking the important first steps forward for making the Blue H USA demonstration project a reality in the
best interest of the people in Massachusetts, the New England Region, and our nation.”
Blue H develops technology for deepwater offshore wind energy production, develops deepwater offshore
wind farms, and controls the manufacturing and maintenance of its proprietary Gamma 2-bladed turbine
technology. The corporate headquarters for Blue H USA LLC is located at 60 State Street in Boston,
Massachusetts.
On March 12, 2008, Blue H USA LLC submitted a Nomination For Lease with the US Minerals
Management Service (MMS) to install what it anticipates to be the first floating deepwater wind energy
unit in North America. The technology testing facility, named ‘Belinda’ consists of a floating structure
supporting a non-operational 3.5 MW wind turbine consistent with MMS guidelines. The purpose of
Project Belinda is threefold:
- Launch the deepwater wind energy industry in the United States by fully using US facilities for the
construction, commissioning, and decommissioning of Blue H’s patented wind energy structure.
- Test the floating platform technology in actual oceanographic conditions in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Collect site-specific resource data and information.
Following demonstration of the efficacy of its technology, Blue H intends to proceed with seeking permits
for a full scale commercial deep water wind energy project in a 40 square mile area which will:
- consist of 120 turbines
- generate 420 MW
- be located 23 miles from Martha’s Vineyard
- be located 45 miles from New Bedford
- be in a water depth of 51 meters (167 ft).
In December of 2007, Blue H Technologies BV launched the first ever large scale prototype
Submerged Deepwater Platform (SDP) off the coast in Southern Italy. This event marked a
world premiere in the offshore wind energy sector. The prototype is scheduled for full
installation in the summer of 2008.
Blue H Skysaver Srl is now constructing Blue H’s first commercial unit for an offshore wind farm
off the coast of Puglia in Southern Italy. In January 2007 Blue H Skysaver obtained the final
authorizations to install its large scale prototype in the water and has now has applied for the
required authorizations to build a 90MW wind farm in the same area, 20 kilometers from the
coast in waters 100 – 120 meters in depth. The project has a strong support of the Regional
Government of Puglia and the local population.
The offshore wind energy market is projected to represent 40% of the installed capacity of the
total worldwide wind energy market by 2030. As a matter of fact, offshore wind farms benefit
from stronger and less turbulent winds and can avoid logistic constraints due to problems of
transportation of the turbines and their blades, as well as address to a large degree the
concerns of visual impact of onshore wind farms.
However, with the commercially available technology today, which requires wind turbine
foundations to be installed into the seabed on mono-piles or jackets or tripods, the costs of
installation grows dramatically as the depth of water increases, often limiting potential offshore
sites to areas less than 50 meters in depth, something which restricts greatly the potentially
available areas to construct wind farms.
In contrast Blue H has developed a new solution by adapting the concept of submerged
tension-legged platforms developed by the oil industry for some of its offshore rigs, and
designed a platform large and stable enough to support a tower and a wind turbine.
As explained by Martin Jakubowski, the inventor of SDP technology and author of other Blue H
patent applications, this innovative technology:
- reduces significantly the overall weightof the structure, a huge element in cost
component of offshore wind units
- can be assembled onshore and then towed out far offshore, at distances of 10
nautical miles or more and positioned in deep waters (50 meters or more in depth);
Blue H does not use the heavy equipment needed to build structures into the sea bed:
such heavy equipment is both expensive and in short supply – particularly crane ships
and jack-up barges.
- allows a localization far enough from the coast to benefit from stronger and more
regular winds (thus reducing the cost per kWh), to overcome frequent environmentalist
objections to on-shore farms and to address a fundamental problem of the wind energy
industry today, that of being able to deploy larger and larger turbines (also reducing the
cost per kWh); it can also often be placed in locations near heavy demand centers.
- Is more environmentally friendly because easier to dismantle with no leftover.
For all these reasons, Blue H provides a cost effective solution for the installation of offshore
wind energy converters in deep waters. “Blue H intends to demonstrate that deepwater offshore
wind farms can be built economically and certainly at a cost which is extremely competitive to
the shallow water wind farms of today” said Neal Bastick, CEO of Blue H.
download:
+ Blue H USA LLC Press Release
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