Energy Farm
- From: GoldenStatePoppy@xxxxxxx
- Date: 24 Oct 2005 09:56:21 -0700
Co. Leases 11,000 Acres for Energy Farm
AP, 2 hours, 30 minutes ago
Texas has sold a lease for an 11,000-acre tract in the Gulf of Mexico
that backers believe could become the first wind energy farm along the
U.S. coast.
The wind turbines planned by Galveston Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of
Louisiana-based Wind Energy Systems Technologies, would be seven miles
off Galveston Island and could provide 40,000 homes with power and
generate millions of dollars for state schools.
"This could be the Spindletop of this century," Texas General Land
Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson said in a story published Sunday in
the Houston Chronicle. Spindletop was the oil strike that launched
Texas' energy boom a century ago.
Galveston Offshore Wind purchased a 30-year lease for $10,000 a year,
for the first five years. The company estimated production to begin
between 2010 and 2012. The state will then receive a minimum of $4.9
million in royalties, growing to at least $14.9 million in years 17 to
30. All the money will go to a fund that pays for schools statewide.
Two other offshore wind turbine farms have been proposed along the
coast of the United States, one about four miles off the south shore of
New York's Long Island, and one in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound, off
Cape Cod.
The New York project, backed by environmentalists, is awaiting approval
by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Nantucket project, also in
federally controlled water, faces opposition because of fears it would
ruin the view from the shore.
The Texas proposal would face fewer obstacles. The Texas General Land
Office oversees territory up to 10 miles from the coast, limiting
federal involvement. And the state's coastline already is home to
industry, with oil and gas platforms visible from beaches.
"Texans will be receptive. ... We know energy," Patterson said.
However, there is a question of how the wind farm's structures will
affect coastal and migratory birds, which can be struck by the
turbines' rotating blades, said environmental attorney Jim Blackburn.
If the project passes the environmental and public scrutiny needed to
obtain a federal construction permit, Wind Energy Systems eventually
will erect 53 turbines.
Texas ranks second in the nation behind California in electricity
generated by wind turbines located on land, but company officials
believe offshore turbines can tap more consistent wind.
"We know it's a good site," said Herman Schellstede, president of Wind
Energy Systems.
.
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