Offshore Energy Projects Waiting for a Breeze

Graceful sailboats plying blue waters off the central-east coast of China must be a frustrating sight for power company executives at Shandong Luneng Group.

If not for regulatory delays, the sea breezes that fill billowy sails could be turning wind turbine blades – and making money – at a Luneng offshore wind farm.

Luneng officials have been waiting since May 2010 for permission to proceed with a proposed 200-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Dongtai, a city in Jiangsu Province. That's the month the cash-rich, state-owned regional power concern won a National Energy Administration (NEA) tender for the project.

But more is needed than NEA's permission. To proceed, the project also needs a green light from the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), which regulates all economic activities within China's offshore territorial waters. And the two agencies apparently do not always see eye-to-eye.