Feb 11 2011
Gamesa Technology, a leading wind energy specialist, applauded the action taken by Steven Chu, the Department of Energy Secretary and Ken Salazar, the Interior Secretary, for speeding up the wind energy development in the East Coast region of the US by reorganizing and managing the federal approval process for projects and also providing funds for researching innovative technologies.
Gamesa’s CEO and Chairman in North America, Dirk Matthys, before the official opening of the Chesapeake Gamesa Offshore Wind Technology Center, stated that both the Secretaries have launched important action plans that would speed up the development of wind energy in the US East Coast. Both businesses and families would be benefited by this on the East Coast and in other places in the US. He further mentioned that Gamesa was unswervingly devoted to the US market and was eager to work with business partners and regulators for building an exciting offshore wind energy capacity.
Gamesa and Northrop Grumann Shipbuilding have built the Wind Technology Center for developing advanced offshore wind systems for both the US and the World markets. This center would add to the partnership created in October 2010 for designing, developing, site selection, installation, permitting and testing of the G11X-5.0 MW offshore prototype in the US utilizing both Northrop’s vast experience in taxing marine environments and Gamesa’s multi-megawatt technology. The center is to be officially opened by the Virginian Governor, Bob McDonnell at the Chesapeake, Va. Facility along with a team of 50 experienced engineers.
The action plan given by Salazar and Chu concentrates on decreasing the expenses involved in offshore wind energy, triumphing over the technical challenges that would abound during installation, grid interconnection, and operation processes. DOE would provide funding to the tune of $50.5 million for a period of five years for projects that develop wind energy technology and eliminate all the obstacles encountered during implementation. Four wind energy areas off Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey have been identified and targeted by the Department of Interior for conducting large scale planning, coordinated environment studies and accelerated approval processes.
Matthys mentioned that Gamesa’s plans are in line with the plans outlined by the Secretaries. He revealed that the Chesapeake Center was just one of the latest in a long line of initiatives carried out towards development of advanced solutions for wind energy. The company also concurred with the idea that reduction of costs in wind energy was vital for its development. He disclosed that Gamesa along with Northrop were committed to decreasing the expenses that are involved in the wind energy segment by 30% during the next four years, by using the advanced technologies employed in the G11X 5.0 MW Wind Turbine.