New York City Eyes Ocean Wind Farm Power

New York City is on the cutting edge of energy issues given its huge power needs. It is now seriously considering the prospect of an ocean wind farm power system.

Most people think of a concrete jungle when they think of the Big Apple. Well, it is. That being said, the City is also on the cutting edge of green building approaches, energy efficiency and power approaches. For example, recent legislation in the city is calling for every building to be energy audited with the goal of reducing energy waste by five percent. In a city the size of the Big Apple, that is a ton of savings.


New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg rubs people as a bit odd from time to time, but there is no doubt he is forward looking. He is particularly interested in the possibility of producing energy for the City via the use of an offshore wind farm. The interest is stoked by the recent launch of the largest offshore wind farm in the world in Denmark, known as Horns Rev 2. In combination with a sister farm, it produces roughly 10 percent of all the wind power in Denmark with wind being 20 percent of the total power production in the country.

The issue with wind farms, of course, is the view. New Yorkers have balked before when it came to the idea of putting wind farms up around the City. Bloomberg acknowledges as much, but suggests two things that will make a difference. First, he will put his political might behind the project and argue that the wind turbines are more akin to art than a blight. Second, the farm will be located much farther out to see than with previous proposals, thus making it less of an issue.



So, what about the specifics? Mayor Bloomberg is envisioning a wind farm that will produce 750 megawatts of power. The cost and power will be split between New York City and Long Island. The total cost is estimated to be in the three billion dollar range. This raises the question of whether the return on investment is worth it. 375 megawatts of energy constitutes about one to three percent of the energy needs of the Big Apple. Bloomberg acknowledges as much, but argues that this project represents part of an overall effort to cut energy use and produce energy production that will insure the future of the Big Apple.

Will we see a wind farm off of the coast of New York City anytime soon? Well, not soon, but it certainly makes sense in the long term.

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