The offshore wind power industry got a boost this week when NRG Energy announced the purchase of Bluewater Wind, says a University of Delaware professor.
Having Bluewater Wind under the umbrella of a Fortune 500 company in the utility and energy-generation business signals that the offshore wind industry has arrived, said Jeremy Firestone, university professor and wind-power supporter.
He said it is better for the offshore wind developer to be owned by a large company, rather than standing alone as a start-up or under an investment firm, such as former Bluewater Wind parent company Babcock and Brown.
He said the sale bodes well for the Delaware project. “NRG is a company with a healthy balance sheet, and it is knowledgeable in doing large generation, so this is good for the project and speaks well for the industry,” he said.
NRG Energy put up $3 million for a letter of credit to Delmarva Power on Monday, when the sale was announced. Firestone said the company would be investing considerably more in the Delaware wind farm project as it moves toward construction and completion.
Bill Zak, founder of local grassroots environmentalist group Citizens for Clean Power, said his group supports the sale. He said he was encouraged by remarks Bluewater Wind President Peter Mandelstam made at a Monday, Nov. 9 press conference, praising NRG Energy President David Crane. Zak said it seems Crane is taking more than token steps toward renewable energy. He called Crane a standout leader in the field of renewable energy generation and the reduction of fossil fuel use.
Zak said NRG Energy is locally invested and has sufficient capital to support the Bluewater Wind project in Delaware.
Zak’s group has been vocal in its crusade to clean up NRG Energy’s Indian River power plant. He applauded NRG Energy’s intention to generate more renewable energy, but said environmental problems from the Millsboro plant still plague the area.
Firestone said the financial backing of NRG Energy will likely help Bluewater Wind as it works toward developing projects in New Jersey, Maryland and Michigan. He said each of those projects will require a power-purchase agreement, like the one Bluewater Wind signed in 2008 with Delmarva Power.
That was the nation’s first offshore wind deal, and it promises Bluewater Wind will supply 200 megawatts of power to Delmarva Power for 25 years. He said NRG Energy already has wind experience through its onshore wind business, Panoma Wind. He said NRG Energy Chief Operating Officer David Crane has broken from other power generators in calling for a carbon-emission cap-and-trade bill.
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