TEXAS BUILDS OFFSHORE WIND

Texas is building the capacity to lead the country in renewable energy. NewEnergyNews predicts that will make Texas a national factor when more energy-recalcitrant states like Massachusetts start turning into energy-starved rust buckets.

Texas wind energy begins earnestly
David Cabanero, October 3, 2007 (The Daily Texan)

WHO
The Texas General Land Office (Commissioner Jerry Patterson), Wind Energy Systems Technology (Patrick Warren, director)

Offshore wind farms look to be the richest, densest source of emissions-free energy available for the foreseeable future. (But energy's future has rarely been very foreseeable.)

WHAT
The Texas Land Office awarded Wind Energy Systems the right to develop a Gulf of Mexico (GoM) offshore wind installations.

WHEN
- The term of the leases was 30 years.
- R & D will last 4 years.
- Land Office officials expect Texas to be producing 10% of its electricity from wind energy in 10 years.

WHERE
- Wind Energy Systems Technology is based in Louisiana. It already holds the only offshore lease in the GoM Galveston region.
- Leases were awarded for 4 tracts 8-miles offshore totaling 73,098 acres.

WHY
- The lease terms, awarded by competitive bidding, require Wind Energy Systems Technology to pay Texas’ Permanent School Fund $91,000/year ($433 million total) + royalties on electricity produced.
- Initial development steps will be meteorological data-taking: water temp, water density, wind factors.
- Eventually, each tract will be developed with turbines producing 250 to 300 megawatts.

Offshore Gulf of Mexico resources have been exploited for a half-century. Wind energy development will suit the region better than what has come before. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Patterson: "The 'Texas Wind Rush' is on, and the companies are staking their claims…[Wind Energy Systems Technology] has moved the ball again to develop Texas as a leader in the energy business…Texas is the place to be for all types of energy…This was the first, but it won't be the last…The future of offshore wind power in the U.S. is right here in Texas, and the land office is open for business."
- Warren: "We will follow our plans sequentially, first with Galveston, then the Gulf…The thing about Texas is that they have a 'can-do attitude.' … It takes at least one year to test if the winds are favorable and the conditions are right…"