Feasibility of offshore wind power in the South Atlantic bight

The Southeastern US has no significant wind resources for the production of competitive wind power. However, data available from instrumented USN platforms off the Georgia coast as well as data from the National Data Buoy Center indicate that there is a better wind resource in the South Atlantic Bight region than previously thought. This region also has a 140 km wide continental shelf providing shallow water over a vast area offshore. A study on preliminary design information for a wind farm in the South Atlantic Bight region was carried out based on work done in a partnership between an academic institution and an electric utility. The size and scale of the available acreage in the South Atlantic Bight region coupled with shallow water ≤ 50 km offshore and consistently low wave height provide a promising situation. Wind farm sites could be larger and more cost effective, while being out of sight for coastal residents. The wind resources coupled with the sheer expense and unique topography of the South Atlantic Bight makes this a potential region for offshore wind development. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2006 Offshore Technology Conference (Houston, TX 5/1-4/2006).