Drew Murphy, Northeast Region President of NRG Energy Inc., presented the August 19, 2010 lecture in the University of Delaware’s Coastal Currents Lecture Series. NRG owns offshore wind energy developer NRG Bluewater Wind. Mr. Murphy’s excellent presentation on the company’s planned “Mid-Atlantic Wind Park” project off the Delaware coast provided guests with a broad perspective on the challenges to as well as the economic, environmental and energy-related benefits from developing an offshore wind park.

His presentation helped answer questions I hear quite often: “How can offshore wind be developed in the US?”, “Why is offshore wind a good source of clean and reliable energy?” and “How are they able to install wind turbines so far out in the water?”.

Before this talk, I had no clue about some of specialized vessels and equipment used in the offshore wind projects.  Thanks to Mr. Murphy I now have some insights on how it might be accomplished, and why it would be good for Delaware and for the entire country.

I appreciate NRG’s permission to post this interesting presentation online. You can find out more about the company’s offshore wind and other clean and renewable energy development efforts by visiting http://www.nrgenergy.com.