Citizens for a Better Sussex (CBS), a volunteer-led non-profit supporting responsible growth and stewardship of the land in the county, plans to host a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Ocean View Presbyterian Church to garner further support for a wind farm proposal off of Delaware’s coast.
To Attend
Citizens for a Better Sussex plans to host a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Ocean View Presbyterian Church to garner further support for a wind farm proposal off of Delaware’s coast. The two-and-a-half hour meeting is expected to feature a documentary on energy conservation and alternative energy options, and a University of Delaware environmental scientist currently involved in alternative energy research.
Bluewater Wind submitted in late December a $1.5 billion-plus proposal to build 200 wind turbines at least 6 miles off of Rehoboth or Bethany that would generate energy and diversify supply. Bluewater’s wind farm, NRG’s “clean coal” plant proposal and a Conectiv natural gas plant proposal upstate are competing now for the rights to enter into a long-term energy supply contract with Delmarva Power.
The electric company — known best in the area for a considerable rate jump last year that more than doubled most residential electric bills — is expected to submit a recommendation early next month to state officials studying the proposals. The state should have a final decision by Feb. 28.
In the meantime, Joan Deaver, president of CBS, and her non-profit will attempt to give Bluewater Wind’s proposal an edge.
“We want people to come here to fish, to swim, to raise their children and to enjoy their retirement,” Deaver said. “Delaware has accomplished a lot economically. We need to look at our environment and make it very attractive. If we do, we have a lot to offer.”
The two-and-a-half hour meeting is expected to feature a documentary on energy conservation and alternative energy options, and a University of Delaware environmental scientist currently involved in alternative energy research.
Dr. Willett Kempton — a 35-year research veteran and associate professor at the university’s Lewes-based College of Marine and Earth Studies — along with colleagues currently surveyed almost 1,000 Delaware residents, asking their opinion on the prospect of wind-generated power here. More than 90 percent of 949 Delaware residents surveyed supported the wind-farm proposal, school officials said last week.
Those numbers help support a growing aggressive local backing of the wind farm proposal — and apparent distaste for NRG’s coal-fired plant. Deaver called coal plants — no matter how technological, environmentally-friendly and modernized — “relics.”
“This coal-fired power is a thing of the past,” she said this week. “We think Delaware should be out in front with something that is up to date, something that will give the many people that are coming here to retire something they can look forward to: clean air.”
Officials at NRG — owner of the state’s largest polluter, the Indian River Power Plant — contend that a wind farm is no substitute for more reliable energy production. Wind could be part of the solution but since energy production relies on the wind resource available at any time, it is best utilized alongside something more stable, NRG officials said.
“Wind is something that generates power when wind blows,” said Caroline Angoorly, senior vice president of development for NRG. “It is certainly part of an energy solution. (But) It can not be a full solution. It is incapable of replacing base-load power production.”
Both proposals would have the ability to generate 600 megawatts of power, but even environmentalists concede that the proposed wind farm could not guarantee that because of sporadic absences of the wind resource.
NRG’s $1.5 billion-plus proposal calls for a “clean coal” gasification plant, a technology in which they would remove most of the pollutants before combustion — and before they are emitted into the atmosphere, causing countless environmental problems. It would also provide much-needed stability, NRG officials said.
The process, according to NRG officials, removes nearly 99 percent of sulfur dioxide normally emitted from traditional coal combustion; more than 95 percent of mercury; more than 90 percent of nitrogen oxide and about 65 percent of carbon. And eventually, it could reduce more carbon emissions, they asserted.
Bluewater Wind officials — who have proposed a project featuring no emissions and seemingly no serious environmental impact whatsoever — said they are “confident” their proposal “will stand on its merit.”
“It’s a clean and high-tech industry,” said Rob Propes, Bluewater’s Delaware project director, at a meeting held on the University of Delaware’s Lewes campus last week. “We’re not depending on the Middle-East (region for oil) or people mining coal in Pennsylvania or West Virginia. (The project would) enable Delaware to be part of the solution for global warming.”
Both proposals — along with Conectiv’s — have come in response to the Delaware legislature’s call last year for long-term energy solutions to combat rising electric costs, help diversify the state’s energy supply and, hopefully, provide environmental benefits. Residential Delmarva Power customers across the state felt a 59 percent hike on average last May, sparking the call for new energy sources.