Offshore Wind Company Pulls Out Of Delaware Project

The company spearheading the effort to install a 200-megawatt wind turbine 13 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware has announced that it is pulling out of a vital power purchasing agreement.

But even though NRG Bluewater Wind, a publicly traded energy company, is terminating the agreement with Delmarva Power, its president, Peter Mandelstam, says that doesn't mean the project is dead in the water. 

"We've been in substantial discussions with parties to buy all of the assets of NRG Bluewater Wind so we can continue to move this project forward," Mandelstam says.

The company is looking to Europe to find an investor to save the project, but it's running short on time, as it needs to find someone by Dec. 23. That's the deadline for when NRG Bluewater Wind needs to inform Delmarva Power it's pulling out of the deal.

Mandelstam says elimination of federal loan guarantees and uncertainty surrounding tax credits made the time line for the completion of the project too uncertain for NRG to continue their involvement.

The news rippled into Maryland, as proponents of offshore wind were quick to encourage legislators that the NRG announcement is just one more reason for them to approve Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) offshore wind bill in 2012.  Advocates say the bill would put Maryland near the front of the pack in the race to make offshore wind a reality.