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Archive for the ‘Offshore Wind’ Category

RODA sues BOEM on Vineyard Wind I approval

Posted in Offshore Wind, Uncategorized, Wind Energy, tagged , , , on September 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Vineyard Windmap 9 10 19 01

Washington, D.C. (9/13/2021) — Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a broad membership-based coalition of fishing industry associations and fishing companies, filed a Petition for Review today in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding the Secretary of the Interior’s July 15, 2021 decision approving the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind energy project. This action is the culmination of many years of conscientious participation by fisheries professionals only to see their expertise and value summarily ignored by decision-makers during the leasing process.

The RODA statement is quite strong. While the new administration understandably wants to advance offshore wind development, they would have been wise to accept input from RODA and other interested parties before approving Vineyard Wind I. The fishing industry certainly has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this and other offshore wind projects.

A group of Nantucket residents had already sued BOEM over concerns about the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Concerns have also been expressed about the wind farm’s proximity to shore:

Fifteen miles was not OK in North Carolina or Long Island; then why is it OK for Nantucket? It’s just wrong.

David Stevenson, Caesar Rodney Institute

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Block Island Wind Farm

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , on August 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

For the better part of two months now, four of the five wind turbines at America’s first offshore wind farm haven’t been spinning. 

Workers at the Merkur wind farm in the German North Sea found signs of stress fatigue on the support structures of the “helihoist” platforms on some of the project’s GE Haliade turbines. 

The Providence Journal, 8/14/2021

Comments:

  1. Ørsted was prudent to shutdown the turbines to conduct precautionary inspections.
  2. Press reports imply that Ørsted was slow to advise the public about the reasons for the shutdown.
  3. The shutdown raises questions about the reliability of wind-centric regional power grids.
  4. Given the questions that have arisen regarding the regulation of offshore wind projects (this wind farm is in Rhode Island State waters), the absence of any comments from State and local officials was noteworthy. It’s unclear what, if any, role the State had in the shutdown decision.
  5. Hurricane Henri may give the wind farm a bit of a test this weekend.

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UK: Climate Committee Prefers Onshore Wind Turbines

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , on May 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In a report into the future of energy, the influential Committee on Climate Change calls on the Government to scale back plans to build thousands of turbines off the coast of Britain.

Instead, the report calls for hundreds more wind turbines to be built onshore at a lower cost over the next eight years.Daily Mail UK

On the other hand, offshore locations have stronger, more consistent winds, and minimal aesthetic and noise impacts. Is the public going to accept massive onshore wind development?

I continue to be intrigued by the concept of offshore energy units which integrate natural gas and wind projects to ensure consistent power supply. (See slide below from a presentation by George Hagerman, Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute)

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Another Missing Accident Report

Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2010| 2 Comments »

 

Liftboat Russell Peterson, May 12, 2008

 

Malcolm Sharples reminds us that the Coast Guard still hasn’t completed the investigation of the tragic liftboat accident in May 2008. The boat was conducting research for a proposed offshore wind project.  Why the delay?

Here is more information from Malcolm:

Liftboat  Russell W. Peterson damaged in storm, 1 person died, 1 person injured ; “One dead, one rescued as research vessel sinks off Rehoboth”.  One crewman died today after gale force winds pounded a specialized research ship that was launched in March to study Delaware’s offshore wind power resources, forcing the Coast Guard to pull two crewmen from the sinking vessel. Coast Guard Petty Officer Nick Cangemi said one of the two crew members of the RV Russell W. Peterson did not have any vital signs when a helicopter arrived on the scene this morning. “We took both people to the hospital in Maryland, where the hospital declared one of the gentlemen deceased,” Cangemi said. They were taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD.  The ship was left adrift and ran aground at Bethany Beach.

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Googlin’ in the Wind

Posted in Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , on October 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Washington Post diagram

Comment: Kudos to Google for their leadership in financing a power grid for Atlantic wind projects.  The grid should greatly improve the economics of offshore wind development.  The challenge for the  Google team and other wind developers will be demonstrating that they can manage complex offshore projects, protect workers, and maintain the integrity of their assets.

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There are always tradeoffs

Posted in gas, natural gas, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , on October 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This New York Times article and video discuss the dispute on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine, about the noise associated with the island’s three wind turbines.

Comments:

-Locating wind projects offshore minimizes noise and visual issues, but increases costs and operational complexity.  There are always trade-offs.

-When all environmental impacts are considered, offshore natural gas is tough to beat: minimal visual impacts, none of the freshwater issues that are complicating shale gas development, few land use issues, little or no spill risk (depending how dry the gas is).  The trade-off is CO2 emissions. While combustion of natural gas emits 30% and 45% less CO2 than oil and coal respectively, the CO2 emissions are still significant.

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Cape Wind Marathon Continues; Will Costs be the Biggest Obstacle?

Posted in Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , on October 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The Boston Globe looks at Cape Wind costs:

Once the 130 turbines begin rotating, the energy produced will cost up to 50 percent more than energy today from some land-based wind farms and twice as much as some hydroelectric dams.

Now, after a new analysis by the attorney general’s office placed the cost of building Cape Wind at more than $2.5 billion, 2 1/2 times the original estimated price tag, the state Department of Public Utilities is weighing whether National Grid’s proposed 15-year contract with Cape Wind is a good deal for ratepapers. A decision is expected by mid-November.

 

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Who’s greener?

Posted in Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , on August 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The odd thing about conflicts over wind is that, usually, each side claims to be greener than the other.

Good article in The Economist.

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Cape Wind Lawsuit Filed

Posted in Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , on June 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

See Cape Cod Times article.

A coalition of nine individuals, environmental organizations and the project’s primary opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, filed a lawsuit yesterday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. They claim the U.S. Department of Interior violated a host of federal laws in granting Cape Wind permission to build 130 wind turbines in the Sound.

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Offshore Wind Turbine Safety

Posted in Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Kudos to the National Academies and the very distinguished panel of experts who will be advising the government on the best approach for regulating offshore wind turbines.

I look forward to speaking to them next week.

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