Need to update the risk assessments!
Archive for the ‘Wind Energy’ Category
“Turbine Turmoil” in Oz
Posted in accidents, Wind Energy, tagged Australia, bridge accident, highway blocked, turbine blocks highway on May 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Protect Our Coast NJ petitions EPA to withdraw permit allowing Sunrise Wind to use open loop cooling
Posted in Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged EPA, HVDC cooling systems, Protect Our Coast NJ, Sunrise Wind on May 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Protect Our Coast NJ submitted a petition (attached) on May 12, 2025 requesting EPA to withdraw a permit that would allow the Sunrise Wind to use an open loop cooling system. The gist of the filing:
“Sunrise Wind has obtained an EPA permit to pull nearly 8 million gallons per day (MGD) of seawater from the Atlantic Ocean and discharge it, after use in cooling and mixture with sodium hypochlorite (chlorine), back into the environment at elevated temperatures. This open-loop system was authorized by EPA Region 1 under NPDES Permit MA0004940. However, approval of this method ignores EPA’s Best Technology Available (BTA) requirement and no rigorous alternatives analysis was conducted to justify this method over a closed-cycle cooling system, despite the known and broad negative environmental impacts that will result, including harms to early life stages of marine species.
The facility lies within a biologically rich and economically vital region of southern New England and the New York Bight. NMFS and BOEM have acknowledged this area as essential fish habitat (EFH) for numerous federally managed species, including Atlantic cod, winter flounder, and longfin squid.“
Very sad: falling 40m turbine blade thought to have killed Japanese man
Posted in accidents, Wind Energy, tagged falling turbine blade, fatality, Japan on May 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Disaster, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind” ~ Richard Littlejohn
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Disaster is blowin' in the wind, Ed Miliband, wind turbines on May 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
By Richard Littlejohn with apologies to Bob Dylan 😉
“How many pits must a man close down
Before we run out of coke?
How many North Sea oil rigs must shut
Before the UK goes broke?
Yes, and how many windmills must the countryside take
Before it’s beyond a sick joke?
Disaster, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
Disaster is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how many more must be dumped on the dole
Before the worm starts to turn?
Yes, and how long will we go on importing foreign coal
As if we’ve got money to burn?
Yes, and how many times will the lights go out again
Before this madman will learn?
Disaster, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
Disaster is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how much higher will our gas bills have to go
So Miliband can play superhero?
Yes, and while the economy goes up in flames
Mister Ed fiddles madly like Nero,
Yes, and how many old folk will die from the cold
In futile pursuit of Net Zero?
Disaster, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
Disaster is blowin’ in the wind.
And here is Miliband with his version (You can’t make this up! 😉):
Wind energy resource management is reminiscent of the early days of oil production
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged law of capture, North Sea, Offshore Wind, turbine wakes, Wind Theft on May 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A previous post on wind theft and a recent BBC article point to the rather limited understanding that wind developers and govt land managers have about wind resource management including optimal turbine spacing and protection of correlative rights. Wind is considered a renewable energy resource, but the energy lost through inefficient operating practices is not renewable.
Given that the wake effect can extend for more than 100 km, reduce downwind energy production by >10%, and affect biological productivity, a better understanding of this phenomenon should have preceded the installation of thousands of turbines.
Wind resource management is reminiscent of the early years of oil production when the “law of capture” reigned supreme and wasteful production practices were a self-defense mechanism.
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Tell us what you really think Congressman Van Drew!😉
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Congressman Van Drew, development pause, lawsuit, New Jersey, Offshore Wind on May 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Congressman Jeff Van Drew doesn’t mince any words in commenting on New Jersey’s participation in the lawsuit against the offshore wind pause:
“You cannot make this stuff up. The Murphy administration already burned through billions of your tax dollars on offshore wind projects that never worked. They pushed it on us even when towns were saying no, fishermen were saying no, and the tourism industry was saying no. They looked the other way while whales washed up on our beaches. They ignored the Pentagon when it said it was a national security risk. The NJ Ratepayer Advocate said it would raise utility bills. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the cons outweighed the pros. They did not listen to anyone. And now, after all that, they want to throw even more taxpayer dollars at it in court. It truly is a slap in the face to every taxpayer and every family struggling to pay their energy bill.”
UK report: “Fishermen v Big Wind: A David and Goliath story”
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, UK, tagged commercial fishing, conflicts, David v Goliath, Offshore Wind, UK on May 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“David is small, semi-nomadic and works across a vast sea area; Goliath is massive and growing rapidly.”
Energy Voice describes the challenges offshore wind poses for the small but culturally important UK commercial fishing industry, highlighting the findings of a fisheries research lab report.
Per Elspeth Macdonal of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation:
“How it often feels to us is that government says all the right things, has this blue economy vision and all of those great things but, at the end of the day, it actually feels like government is picking winners and losers and, at the moment they seem unable to see past the wind industry as the only game in town.“
This comment on the evolution of the relationship between the fishing and oil industries in the North Sea also aptly describes the US offshore experience:
“The fishing industry eventually learned to live with Big Oil, which is now on the wane, but living with territory-guzzling offshore wind farms – fixed and floating – may prove a lot more challenging.”
6 Democrat States are not parties in the offshore wind law suit
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged 6 Democrat States are not parties, Andy Beshear, Gov. Phil Murphy, Josh Shapiro, New Jersey, Offshore Wind, States sue Trump on May 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
All 17 of the States that filed the offshore wind law suit have Democrat governors. However, 6 States with Democrat governors are not parties in the suit (see table below). Two of those governors, Andy Breshear, and Josh Shapiro, are leading moderates within the Democrat party.
| State | Governor |
| Hawaii | Josh Green |
| Kansas | Laura Kelly |
| Kentucky | Andy Beshear |
| North Carolina | Josh Stein |
| Pennsylvania | Josh Shapiro |
| Wisonsin | Tony Evers |
The State where participation in this suit could have the most political impact is New Jersey, given the well organized wind opposition “down the shore.” However, Gov. Phil Murphy, whose offshore wind promotion has been widely criticized, is not eligible to run for re-election later this year.
As expected, Big Wind strikes back!
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged 18 states, OCS Lands Act, Offshore Wind, States sue over offshore wind on May 5, 2025| 2 Comments »
Unsurprisingly, 17 States (plus DC) filed the attached lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court asserting that the directive to suspend offshore wind activities is illegal.
This will be interesting given that the OCS Lands Act grants broad authority to the Secretary of the Interior to suspend activities when necessary to ensure safety, protect the environment, or allow for further study of potential impacts.
Those who are familiar with the administration of the OCS Lands Act know that there is really no such thing as a “fully permitted project.” The Secretary can call for further review whenever concerns are raised and there is a need for further investigation.
Fishing vessel sank in deadly collision with Yellow Sea wind turbine
Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, tagged China's largest wind farm, offshore China, Qidong Wind Farm, vessel collision, Yellow Sea on May 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
- Chinese Maritime Safety Administration report
- Fishing vessel collided with turbine in the Qidong wind farm in Aug. 2024
- 10 crew members overboard
- One confirmed fatality, one never recovered (i.e. 2 fatalities)
- Quidong is China’s largest offshore wind farm – 134 turbines
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 