Frequently Asked Questions
On the Proposed Long Island Offshore

An underwater cable buried in the seabed will carry the electricity from each wind turbine to an offshore substation, which will convert the voltage for transmission. The offshore substation will be connected via a single cable to an existing substation located onshore that will move the electricity on to the local power grid, providing Long Island residents with a significant renewable energy resource.

The Wind Park will produce on average 435,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually to the customers of Long Island. The Wind Park will produce electricity whenever the wind blows in excess of 7mph. This is expected to occur more than 90% of the time. New wind turbines are highly reliable and available to produce electricity approximately 95% of the time.

The energy needs of Long Island residents continue to grow. New York State is increasingly concerned with its air quality, the effects on our climate from fossil-fired generation and the security implications of importing much of the fuel needed to supply its electricity needs. Further, officials recognize that the limited supply of natural gas and other fossil fuels could leave the state vulnerable to continuing price spikes and possible supply disruptions. Wind energy is environmentally friendly, abundant and cost competitive with other forms of energy generation. The proposed offshore wind park helps LIPA to comply with the NYS Renewable Portfolio Standard which mandates that 25% of the electricity produced in New York State come from renewable resources by the year 2013.

This project may be the first offshore wind power project in the United States and will represent a major step forward in the development of renewable energy resources. Although 2% may not sound like a very large component of the projected overall power supply in 2008, it will provide valuable emissions reduction benefits to the region and will demonstrate how seamlessly renewable energy production can be integrated into utility operations. As part of the integrated LIPA Master Energy Plan, if the project does not proceed, significant quantities of fossil fuels will continue to be consumed by Long Island power plants and additional source(s) of generation, likely fossil fuel based, will need to be installed to meet Long Island’s growing electricity needs.

The LIPA RFP required the wind park to produce between 100 and 140 MW of energy. This range was picked for several reasons:

• Because of the large increases in electrical demand that Long Island has seen and will continue to see for years to come there would need to be an increase in generating capacity from 2008 to the year 2009.
• An offshore wind park of a smaller size would be uneconomical to develop
• It would not eliminate visibility issues
• It would reduce the environmental benefits.

Both Germany and Sweden have shut down nuclear reactors with the intent of supplying the loss of capacity with wind power. (msnbc.msn.com/id/8058171/) (news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4536203.stm)

Electric grid systems can handle a certain percent of wind power without needing additional generation. The 140MW able to be produced by the wind park is within these parameters. The grid is already designed to compensate for loss-of-load contingencies when large power plant units suddenly become unavailable.

Electrical generating units are constantly varying their outputs, starting and stopping, as the demand for electricity across the grid rises and falls throughout the day. Peaking power plants are designed to quickly come on line to provide necessary electricity. When power plants are running at lower outputs or not running at all, they are burning less fuel and hence they pollute less.