Interior Department approves first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S.

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post




The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, a project that envisions building 62 turbines off of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and creating enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. Vineyard Wind is the first of a series of massive offshore wind farm proposals that could put more than 3,000 wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to North Carolina.

The Biden administration has committed to processing the other 13 projects currently under federal review by 2025 in an attempt to meet the administration’s ambitious goal of producing 30,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030, powering some 10 million homes. The goal is part of the Biden administration’s effort to fight climate change by shifting away from fossil fuels. “I believe that a clean energy future is within our grasp in the United States,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a conference call on Tuesday, describing the approval of Vineyard Wind as “a significant milestone in our efforts to build a clean and more equitable energy future while addressing the climate emergency.”

Biden administration officials said that the Vineyard Wind project will create about 3,600 jobs for American workers. So far, just two offshore pilot projects are currently operational — one off Rhode Island and the other off Virginia. Together, their seven turbines produce 42 megawatts of electricity. The scope of the coming projects are far larger and have generated opposition from some coastal communities and commercial fishermen. Environmentalists have also raised concerns about the potential impact on fish, birds, and marine mammals, including the North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species that migrates through swaths of ocean designated for wind farm construction.

Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a U.S. offshoot of the Spanish energy company, Iberdrola; and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners out of Denmark. Europe’s offshore wind industry is decades ahead of the United States and European firms at this point dominate the industry and its supply chain.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/11/interior-department-approves-first-large-scale-offshore-wind-farm-us/

[4Q2u2]

1. Great Start

I hope they change the design to Vertical Turbine instead of Horizontal.
Larger energy gain in a smaller footprint.


https://scitechdaily.com/more-compact-and-efficient-vertical-turbines-could-be-the-future-for-wind-farms/#:~:text=New%20research%20from%20Oxford%20Brookes,performance%20by%20up%20to%2015%25.

[crud]

2. knowing nothing about this subject

this seems like a great idea. Im not sure if the horizontal ones have to be rotated to point into the wind but these vertical ones don't have to.

[4Q2u2]

3. Many Pluses

Don't have to be shut down in high winds.
Lower height and better worker safety. Less maintenance and longer life.
Better visual esthetics and safer for birds.

[Miguelito Loveless]

4. The only disadvantages

is more complicated hardware, and less efficient power production.

I think these can be addressed once we get a few large scale plants running.

[4Q2u2]

7. Efficiency study just done.

Says Vert are better.


https://scitechdaily.com/more-compact-and-efficient-vertical-turbines-could-be-the-future-for-wind-farms/#:~:text=New%20research%20from%20Oxford%20Brookes,performance%20by%20up%20to%2015%25.

[machoneman]

5. Oh, man! Now build one right off Mara-Dildo...I mean, Mara-Lago, FL! It would drive Trump nuts!

[AZ8theist]

9. You mean Merde Lardo?

[certainot]

10. good one

[SergeStorms]

6. I'm waiting for...

them to give the OK for a massive wind farm off the coast of eastern Florida. Right around the Palm Beach area. Right around Donald Trump's property, and Jared's and Ivanka's newly purchased property. Right in their front yards.

[NNadir]

8. This is regrettably going to be very popular, but overall...

...it's very bad news for the environment.

I oppose the wind industry, I contend with good reason.

[PatrickforB]

13. Hello. I note in the article there is some opposition from both fishermen and

environmentalists. While I am generally favorable to wind and solar both, as well as water and even nuclear if that can be made safe, can you elaborate a bit on why you oppose these windfarms?

[NNadir]

14. Sure. I oppose dangerous fossil fuels, on which the wind industry is dependent, and for which...

the wind industry serves as lipstick on the pig.

Every damned wind turbine on this planet will be landfill within 25 years, with maybe 5 or 6 exceptions.

They will shed polymers into the ocean, and future generations will have to clean up the mess.

The mass to energy ratio is abysmal, to the point of disgusting, and any system which requires redundancy to operate is needlessly expensive, wasteful of vanishing resources, and destructive to wilderness.

I am appalled by the idea of turning wilderness, including offshore wilderness, into industrial parks for a pop affectation that has soaked up vast sums of money and done zero to address climate change.

Neither the wind industry nor the solar industry will ever be as safe, as sustainable, nor as clean as nuclear energy.

Period.

[AZLD4Candidate]

11. What about all the cancer though?

[modrepub]

12. Previous Administration

sat on this one for almost a year then rejected it when the company withdrew it to await the Biden administration. They (the previous administration) were focused on project impacts to fishing and marine wildlife while at the same time fast tracking oil and gas projects.

These could be game changers if they work. If they do get on line and are profitable a lot of fossil fuel combustion will be threatened with replacement. Mostly the old coal plants in the Appalachian coal fields and any leftover oil-fired units. If all of these projects come online and are successful (operate at a profit) then a lot of the combined-cycle gas units that are currently on the drawing board will probably never get built. This would then have an impact on the Marcellus and Utica shale plays (potentially less drilling and development).

Interesting times.