SAMP weaves a complex web for development

Richard Asinof

08/16/2009

Drilling at the first three of seven preliminary test sites on the ocean floor southeast of Block Island has been completed by Deepwater Wind, say members of the team created by the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) that is writing the guidelines for how offshore wind farms should be sited.
The scientists say that Hoboken, N.J.-based Deepwater – which was chosen by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri to construct both a small project in state waters near Block Island as well as a $1.5 billion wind farm in federal waters off Rhode Island – has not provided detailed information about the exact location of the core sample drillings which are being made about 230 feet into the ocean bed to determine the geological content upon which turbines are to be constructed. But, photographs of the drilling rig vessel, reportedly on loan from the North Sea, were sent by local fishermen to University of Rhode Island fisheries experts.
The photographs were then shared as part of a public community lecture by Malcolm Spaulding, a URI professor of ocean engineering, at the Peace Dale Library on Aug. 6, entitled, “Rhode Island Ocean Zoning: Where NOT to put a wind farm in Rhode Island waters.”
Spaulding is one of the leading scientists involved in the state’s Special Area Management Plan, or SAMP, being created under the auspices of the CRMC. This landmark effort, the first of its kind in the nation to zone ocean waters for wind farm development, is being underwritten by $3.2 million from the R.I. Economic Development Corporation’s Renewable Energy Fund (and is to be repaid by Deepwater Wind) and an additional $666,050 federal grant.
In the short term, the SAMP process is expected to provide a zoning map for diverse uses, including the best places to construct wind turbines in state and federal waters off Rhode Island’s coast, calculating the balance between wind energy resources, current uses and critical habitats, and technical development challenges. Current state plans, Spaulding explained, call for 15 percent of the state’s needs to be met by renewable energy – about 150 megawatts. With wind turbines, that translates into an installed capacity of about 450 megawatts, because fluctuating wind levels prevent turbines from being a constant source of energy.
In the longer term, the pioneering modeling approach is expected to create a new standard for zoning ocean waters for wind farm development in the United States.
Spaulding spent two hours detailing the spatial modeling process before a rapt audience that filled the library’s small lecture room. More than 50 people attended, including representatives of the fishing industry in Rhode Island, concerned citizens, local residents and businesspeople involved in wind-development companies.
In his talk, Spaulding likened the zoning exercise to how a locality plans to decide where “big-box stores may be built” by sorting out the economic and environmental issues.
He detailed the work to date of Rhode Island Ocean SAMP, looking at the trapezoid-shaped area south of Rhode Island’s coastline encompassing both state and federal offshore waters, from Block Island Sound to the edges of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound.
With exacting detail, Spaulding created a series of overlays – beginning with those areas with the best wind recourses – at 7 meters per second at 80 meters height – contrasted with water depth – the deeper the water, the more expensive it is to anchor the turbine structure. To this, Spaulding added the results of a Technology Development Index, created by his team, which divides the cost of development by the power produced, to rate the various potential sites. In addition, the SAMP mapping process added protected coastal habitats.
Spaulding’s team has also mapped the major shipping channels used by commercial vehicles, the protected ocean areas, visual impact, and fishing areas for vessels using both fixed gear and mobile gear.
Despite the promise “to create good, high-paying jobs, as well as new development for Quonset,” Spaulding acknowledged that there are serious technological challenges.
The foundation of each wind turbine needs to be anchored in the ocean bed. Deepwater Wind is planning to construct tripod, jacketed structures at depths of 50 to 60 meters, according to Spaulding. Much of the ocean floor in the SAMP study area was shaped by glaciers, and there is a big cost difference between drilling in moraine – the debris left by a retreating glacier – and bedrock, Spaulding said.
Further, under the federal Jones Act, drilling for the actual turbines will need to be done by American-made ships, which cost about $250 million per ship, and require larger-scale development to be economically viable, Spaulding said. In other words, more than just the wind-development project in Rhode Island.
And, once the recreational and commercial fisheries maps were overlaid upon the map that indicated the best potential sites, it was clear there are potential conflicts. SAMP’s phase 2, according to Spaulding, will be to create a better understanding of these conflicts and potential mitigation. •