HARTFORD, Conn. – In the drive for renewable energy, Connecticut is giving up on large-scale wind power, surrendering to poor topography and the limited reach of a shoreline that stops short of the Atlantic Ocean.
Connecticut set goals 10 years ago to increase renewable energy in its portfolio of power sources. An annual plan recently submitted to state regulators seeks significant increases in megawatts generated by landfill gas, hydro power, biomass, fuel cells and solar energy by 2030.
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Wind power and offshore wind, however, are not forecast to generate any power.
The report said the state’s potential to tap into renewable resources is more limited than elsewhere in New England, “due principally to the relatively poor wind resource in Connecticut.”
Wind speeds necessary to power turbines are poor in Connecticut because the state has no mountains to produce so-called “wind corridors” or access to the Atlantic Ocean, said Bob Chew, president of the wind division of Alteris Renewables in Wilton.
On Friday, the nation’s first offshore wind farm, planned for waters off Cape Cod, announced a deal with a utility to purchase power. Cape Wind, a privately held developer, was approved by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who stepped in to bring resolution to a project that was in its ninth year of federal review.
In New England, installed and planned wind projects would generate about 2,600 megawatts, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, or enough to power more than 2.5 million homes.
Jim Shuckerow, director of wholesale power contracts at Connecticut Light & Power, said wind power generated on land in New England is primarily in Maine, northern New Hampshire, and to a lesser extent in western Massachusetts. Wind power also can be generated off the Atlantic coast in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine, he said.
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