Offshore wind farm would boost existing industry, generate jobs in South Carolina

CHARLESTON — A wind farm off South Carolina’s coast not only would reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, but also boost the existing maritime industry and create a host of new companies, a visiting wind farm specialist said Thursday.

Nick Longfield, managing director of Ocean Marine Services Ltd. of the United Kingdom, told a group of Charleston maritime businesses that spin-off companies will generate jobs that help build the offshore wind farms and maintain them once operational.

The nature of those businesses will run the gamut from divers and boat owners to ferry labor and materials offshore, to suppliers of safety equipment and tools.

“Many satellite companies will develop from an offshore wind farm project,” Longfield said. “And if you’re there at the start, you’ll not only benefit locally, but you will become the experts.”

Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, a partner in Palmetto Wind, South Carolina’s pioneering offshore wind farm initiative, welcomed alternative energy specialist Longfield to the United States for a series of presentations on the logistics of developing offshore wind farms.

Longfield has more than 35 years of experience in the maritime and alternative energy industries. He became involved in Great Britain’s first offshore wind farms a decade ago, including conducting site surveys and developing techniques for environmental impact studies.

Speaking to members and guests of the Propeller Club of Charleston, who sponsored his visit, Longfield said that countries around the world are examining fossil fuel alternatives to generate power.

“We need to diversify where we get our power from,” Longfield said.

Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, director of business development at the Restoration Institute, said there’s little doubt that offshore wind power is coming to the United States.

Investment interest from Europe is a clear economic indicator of the inevitability of U.S offshore wind energy, Colbert-Busch said.

By 2030, one-fifth of electricity generated nationwide is forecast to come from coastal or offshore wind farms, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. South Carolina utility Santee Cooper has committed to generating 40 percent of its power from non-greenhouse gas and biomass sources by 2020.

“We in the U.S. can benchmark the experiences of our European friends and apply our own expertise to boost the economy, create sustainable jobs and generate clean renewable energy,” Colbert-Busch said.

A 48-turbine wind farm produces enough electricity for about 120,000 U.K. homes, Longfield said. Such vast projects require a shift in the mindset of the general public, he said.

It took construction of turbines that stand 360 feet tall out of the ocean within miles of the shore for many U.K. residents to think about energy conservation and clean power for the first time.

“When a wind farm is out there it makes people think where their electricity comes from,” Longfield said.