Dec 3, 2008 11:18 pm US/Eastern
Wind Co. Could Generate Cheaper Electricity Prices
OCEAN CITY, Md. (WJZ) ―
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The company says the wind turbines will hardly be seen by beach visitors.
CBS
A massive windmill farm 12 miles out of Ocean City in the Atlantic is one company's idea to generate electricity for Maryland. However, there are lots of concerns and questions about the impact of such a wind farm.
Derek Valcourt has more on how those questions are being answered.
The company that wants to build these wind farms is trying to address concerns one at a time.
Call it a wind park, like the one off the coast of Denmark. Wind turbines could provide enough energy to power hundreds of thousands of homes.
That's why one company called Bluewater Wind already signed a deal with Delaware to put windmills 11.5 miles off their coast by the year 2012. Now, the same company wants to put in another 150 turbines in the windy waters more than 12 miles off the coast of Ocean City. It's an idea Governor Martin O'Malley and others support.
"The attractive thing about doing them off the Atlantic Coast is that on a hazy day you won't even be able to see them at all. On the clearest of days they'll be about the size of a thumb," said O'Malley.
Without any other offshore wind parks in the United States to compare, some groups like the Maryland Saltwater Sportfisherman's Association questioned if wind turbines would be navigational hazards or harm the environment and marine life.
"When they start constructing these, are they going to drive fish away, is it going to destroy the fish habitat in that area," said Dave Smith, Sportfisherman's Association.
Bluewater Wind met with the fishermen to explain piles of rocks at the base of each wind turbine will create marine habitats that could actually increase fish populations.
"The turbines are far apart, they're a half a mile apart. Recreational fishing will be welcomed, commercial fishing will continue," said Jim Lanard from Bluewater Wind LLC.
The answers satisfied the fishermen who now say they're embracing the idea of off-shore wind parks.
"We are fisherman, but we are Maryland citizens and to diversify the energy source, to get away form oil, natural gas, coal, that's only going to help us in the long run," said Smith.
While concerns are being addressed, these wind parks are still a long way from becoming a reality in Maryland. In fact they are still at this point just proposals.
Bluewater Wind expects their proposed wind park could generate enough energy to power more than 136,000 homes in Maryland each year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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