AWEA - Christopher Long to spur offshore wind power development for national wind energy trade association

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced that it has hired Christopher Long to serve as Manager of Offshore Wind Farm and Siting Policy. Long will serve as AWEA’s lead staff member and advocate on offshore wind issues, including staffing AWEA’s Offshore Wind Working Group and acting as the AWEA liaison to the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, which AWEA helped launch in 2010. He will be prominent in the numerous sessions regarding the offshore wind business opportunity, at the WINDPOWER 2011, the world’s largest wind energy conference, kicking off Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.

In addition, Long will assist AWEA on siting issues including interactions with wildlife, sound and visual impacts, and related permitting issues.

Long has extensive experience in clean energy:
Long served as a Senior Policy Analyst for Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri from 2007 through 2010. One of his primary responsibilities was energy policy including the development of offshore wind energy projects, and he was appointed to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium.

Since January 2011, Long served as Deputy Policy Director for Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and was responsible for energy, environmental, and transportation policy including onshore and offshore wind development.

Long was also a fellow in the New England Clean Energy Council’s Leading Clean Energy Ventures program at the Boston University School of Management which focused on innovation, venture formation, technology commercialization and job creation in the clean energy economy.

2011 already the biggest year yet for U.S. wind energy:
Long joins AWEA at an exciting time for the U.S. offshore wind industry and AWEA is working with its members and partners to help accelerate the development of offshore wind projects. Because of high electricity costs and the close proximity of abundant offshore wind resources to major population centers, offshore wind can provide cost-competitive electricity to our nation’s coastal regions and will help to stimulate economic development, diversify our energy supply, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

There have been a number of significant offshore wind milestones in the U.S. in 2011 including:
*In February, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu unveiled a coordinated strategic plan, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States which pursues the deployment of 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030 and they announced $50.5 million in funding opportunities for projects that support offshore wind energy deployment.

*Also in February, the Secretary of the Interior announced the creation of high priority Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) through the “Smart from the Start” Initiative and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) designated the leasing areas included in the Delaware and Maryland Requests for Information (RFIs) as WEAs. This announcement also designated WEAs off the coasts of New Jersey and Virginia, and outlined plans to identify additional WEAs off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island this spring.

*In March, the Secretary of the Interior and BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich announced the initiation of the process to offer the first commercial wind lease under the “Smart from the Start” Initiative off the coast of Delaware. The decision followed a determination that there was no competitive interest for commercial wind energy development in this area.

*In April, BOEMRE announced a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for wind energy development offshore of New Jersey. Also in April, the Secretary of the Interior announced that BOEMRE approved a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for Cape Wind. Construction of this project could begin as early as the fall.

Additional RFIs and Calls are expected soon in a number of states including Rhode Island, and this follows the announcement of RFIs for Maryland and Massachusetts in late 2010.

Offshore a major topic at world’s biggest wind energy conference this week

Offshore wind will also be an important topic at AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2011 conference at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., May 22-25.

Offshore-related sessions include:
- "Public Relations: Understanding and Leveraging Wind Energy's Broad Support"
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM. Featuring Jeremy Firestone, Associate Professor of Marine Policy and Legal Studies, University of Delaware, on “Public Preferences Toward Offshore Wind Power”

- "Risks and Rewards in Offshore Wind Project Development" (Moderated by Rachel Pachter, Cape Wind)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM.
- Offshore Wind: Expediting the Permitting Approval Process Through Cooperative FederalismKimberly Diamond, Counsel, Lowenstein Sandler PC
- Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: A Help or Hindrance for Offshore Wind? Kris Ohleth, Director of Permitting, Atlantic Wind Connection
- The Oceanic Offshore Wind Power Resource in PJM Scott Baker, Business Solutions Analyst, PJM Interconnection
- Predicting Accessibility Losses for the First Generation of American Offshore Wind Farms Jacob Royle, SgurrEnergy Ltd

- "Delivering Competitive Energy Costs from Offshore Wind Power" (Scientific) (Moderated by Nicholas Rigas, Senior Scientist, Clemson University)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
- Hurricane Risk Assessment for Offshore Wind FarmsHamidreza Arabshahi, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Texas at Austin
- Testing of Intermediate Scale Floating Wind Turbines in the Gulf of Maine Anthony Viselli, Research Engineer/ PhD Candidate, University of Maine
- Tension Leg Spar-Type Offshore Wind Turbine with Upwind or Downwind Rotor Configuration Madjid Karimirad, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

AWEA urges those interested in attending to register as soon as possible online here. Complimentary press registrations are available to those who meet AWEA's media accreditation guidelines. Media credentials are available online here.

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