Interior Department approves 2nd large U.S. offshore wind farm
Seven major offshore wind farms would be developed on the east and west coasts of the U.S. and in the Gulf of Mexico under a plan announced last month by the Biden administration.
The Biden administration approved an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island on Wednesday as part of a plan to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it approved the construction and operations of the South Fork Wind project, the department’s second approval of a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project in the United States. Last week, the department marked the groundbreaking off the coast of Massachusetts for the first commercial-scale offshore wind project.
Seven major offshore wind farms would be developed on the east and west coasts of the U.S. and in the Gulf of Mexico under a plan announced last month by the Biden administration to build infrastructure, create jobs and address global warming. Deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy would generate enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes.
The South Fork Wind project will be located about 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island, and 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. It’s expected to provide roughly 130 megawatts, enough power for about 70,000 homes.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is “facing the challenges of climate change head-on” with climate and offshore wind goals that demand bold action.
“Moving South Fork Wind forward brings us closer to a cleaner and greener future,” she said in a statement.
The first U.S. offshore wind farm opened off Block Island in 2016. But at five turbines, it’s not commercial-scale. Orsted, the Danish energy company, acquired the developer, Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, and now operates that wind farm.
Orsted is developing the South Fork Wind project with utility Eversource. The Interior Department approved up to 12 turbines. Leaders at Orsted and Eversource celebrated the announcement, touting the project’s potential to reduce air pollution, help combat ‘climate change’ and boost the economy by creating jobs.
Rhode Island coastal regulators gave the project critical approval this spring over the objections of the fishing industry and some environmentalists.
Commercial fishing businesses have said planned offshore wind projects off the East Coast would make it difficult to harvest valuable seafood species such as scallops and lobsters.
Some conservation groups fear that big turbines will kill birds.
The project off the coast of Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind 1, is expected to produce about 800 megawatts, enough power for more than 400,000 homes. The first steps of construction will include laying down two transmission cables that will connect the wind farm to the mainland.
The administration expects to review at least 16 construction and operations plans for commercial offshore wind energy facilities by 2025.
“We have no time to waste in cultivating and investing in a clean energy economy that can sustain us for generations,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Just one year ago, there were no large-scale offshore wind projects approved in the federal waters of the United States. Today there are two, with several more on the horizon.”
See more here: pressherald.com
Header image: 4C Offshore
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Jasper's Farm
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Hilarious. What happens to the windmills when a Cat-4 hurricane blows through the Gulf? Even the oil rigs shut down.
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John V
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To show what a crock all this wind technology is, we drove to San Diego 3 weeks ago from Arizona on I-8. When reaching the massive wind farm at Ocotillo, CA on a day with 30 MPH+ winds, which has probably 60 or more turbines, NOT ONE WAS OPERATING! I don’t know why 100% of them were off. Kind of hard to supply energy when you don’t have any them operating. All that $ just sitting there, dormant. No matter, the company that installed them got their payday, now the taxpayers have to suffer the consequences of higher energy prices and lack of service, potentially. That’s how the government works. They are not there for our benefit.
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Michael Clarke
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John V, what if any observations of that wind farm exist?
Was it just because of ‘strong’ winds or for other reasons that they were all not spinning?
What sort of load did all that stationary wind farms present to the grid, you do not just shut them down without using energy to adjust the turbine blades.
Any nearby people comment upon the current number of spinning turbines?
Michael Logician
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John V
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Hi Michael, further west there is another wind farm near the Golden Acorn Casino and those were all operational. I am not an expert on these things, but, they are installed there because it’s a high wind area consistently. We drive this route a few times a year and on windier days than this last trip. I mean, that’s why they are there, because it’s typically windy as hell most of the time. We’ve seen those things spinning like crazy, so to see the entire wind farm shut down is strange. Maybe they’re was some sort of issue where this section was unable to connect to the grid, so why have them operating with no place for the electricity to go? That wind farm in Ocotillo CA rarely has a majority of their turbines operating, at least the times we drive through.
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