Offshore Wind Power Could Produce More Electricity Than World Uses, says International Energy Agency
28 October 2019
Renewable Energy
Vattenfall Nederland / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0
By Eoin Higgins
A new report from the International Energy Agency released Friday claims that wind power could be a $1 trillion business by 2040 and that the power provided by the green technology has the potential to outstrip global energy needs.
<p><span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/eoin-higgins-staff-writer" target="_blank"></a></span>"Talk about a breath of fresh air," tweeted writer Steven E. de Souza.</p>
<div id="27850" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80YJFR1576661241"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1187620712078462976" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Talk about a breath of fresh air https://t.co/r2a0bvMXBc</div> — Steven E. de Souza (@Steven E. de Souza)<a href="https://twitter.com/StevenEdeSouza/statuses/1187620712078462976">1571985817.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The IEA report <a href="https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2019/october/offshore-wind-to-become-a-1-trillion-industry.html" target="_blank">looks at</a> the business of wind power and opines that as investment increases and the technology becomes cheaper, the sector could explode.</p><blockquote>The IEA finds that global offshore wind capacity may increase 15-fold and attract around $1 trillion of cumulative investment by 2040. This is driven by falling costs, supportive government policies and some remarkable technological progress, such as larger turbines and floating foundations. That's just the start—the IEA report finds that offshore wind technology has the potential to grow far more strongly with stepped-up support from policy makers.<br></blockquote><p>"Offshore wind currently provides just 0.3% of global power generation, but its potential is vast," <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/offshore-wind-set-to-be-a-1-trillion-business-by-2040-the-iea-says.html" target="_blank">said</a> IEA executive director Fatih Birol.</p>
<p>It would take a major infrastructural commitment to develop wind power to the point that the renewable energy resource could take over the majority of global energy needs, but it's not impossible. As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/24/offshore-windfarms-can-provide-more-electricity-than-the-world-needs" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a> Friday, "if windfarms were built across all useable sites which are no further than 60km (37 miles) off the coast, and where coastal waters are no deeper than 60 metres, they could generate 36,000 terawatt hours of renewable electricity a year."</p><p>"This would easily meeting the current global demand for electricity of 23,000 terawatt hours," added The Guardian.</p><p>Such a change in worldwide energy demand would require a massive investment of "public pressure, business leadership, and political leadership," green group Friends of the Earth <a href="https://twitter.com/friends_earth/status/1187690804401319936" target="_blank">said</a> on Twitter.</p><p>350 Action founder Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1187659988967317506?s=21" target="_blank">saw</a> no need to wait.</p><p>"Wind turbines in the shallow parts of the planet's oceans can provide more electricity than the planet uses," McKibben tweeted. "So let's get going!"</p>
<div id="3cf5b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KTXB5D1576661241"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1187659988967317506" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Wind turbines in the shallow parts of the planet's oceans can provide more electricity than the planet uses.
So let… https://t.co/3SmKcCGKPs</div> — Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben)<a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/statuses/1187659988967317506">1571995181.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media partner </em><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/25/breath-fresh-air-offshore-wind-power-could-produce-more-electricity-world-uses"><em>Common Dreams</em></a>.<br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Wind farm in Idaho. Jerry and Pat Donaho / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
By Philip Warburg
Advances in technology, improved economics and broad political support are making wind power a formidable twenty-first century energy resource. Top-ranking Denmark draws 41 percent of its electricity from wind; Ireland follows with 28 percent; the European Union as a whole gets 14 percent of its power from wind.
<p>America's wind farms currently produce <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3" target="_blank">6.6 percent of the nation's electricity</a>. As a <em>share</em> of total power generation, that may sound relatively modest, but the U.S. ranks <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/features/wind-energy-by-country/" target="_blank">second only to China</a> in the <em>quantity</em> of power-generating capacity that comes from wind. Moreover, the U.S. has scarcely begun to tap its vast wind power potential. On land, U.S. wind resources are capable of yielding <a href="https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/321" target="_blank">about nine times the nation's power needs</a>. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind">Offshore wind</a> – wholly unexploited to date – could meet nearly <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-offshore-wind-energy-potential#targetText=With%20these%20exclusions%2C%20U.S.%20offshore,by%201%20TWh%20per%20year." target="_blank">twice the nation's electricity demand</a>.</p><p>Looking ahead, the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/downloads/wind-vision-new-era-wind-power-united-states" target="_blank">Department of Energy</a> has prepared a scenario for 35 percent wind reliance by 2050. While that level of wind generation sounds like major progress, it may be substantially less than is needed for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> resources to be the primary drivers of a <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/06/14/countries-net-zero-climate-goal/" target="_blank">net-zero carbon U.S. economy</a>.</p>
<h4>Wind Power's Evolution</h4><p>Wind power has served <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/wind/history-of-wind-power.php" target="_blank">various purposes</a> in America since colonial times, but it first became available as a source of electricity in the early 20th century, when modestly scaled <a href="http://www.windcharger.org/Wind_Charger/Hall_of_Fame.html" target="_blank">wind chargers</a> supplied power to thousands of American homesteads and farm operations. Soon, however, a built-out grid brought centrally generated electricity to the nation's rural areas, leaving little room for small-scale wind. It wasn't until the mid-1970s that the Arab oil embargo and a growing interest in renewable energy gave rise to a second wave of American wind power.</p><p>In 1978, the <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/strengthen-policy/public-utility-regulatory.html" target="_blank">Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act</a> (PURPA) broke open the U.S. power market by requiring utilities to buy electricity from independent companies so long as they could generate electricity at less than the "avoided cost" of new utility-generated power. That law paved the way for America's first commercial wind farm developers. A <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF10479.pdf" target="_blank">federal investment tax credit</a> gave wind farms an additional push, particularly in California where a matching state tax credit earned renewable energy investors a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/the-history-of-wind-energy-subsidies/" target="_blank">50 percent combined tax break</a>.</p><p>These incentives created a super-heated climate for eager wind energy entrepreneurs. Often relying on minimally tested technology, California's early wind farms experienced a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/the-history-of-wind-energy-subsidies/" target="_blank">high rate of mechanical and structural failure</a>, supplying ample fodder to politicians who much preferred mining domestic coal and drilling for oil and gas.</p><p>The federal investment tax credit lapsed in 1985 and the California tax credit ratcheted down over the subsequent two years, slowing commitments to new wind projects. A federal incentive for wind was revived in 1992, but this time it was reformulated as a production tax credit that rewarded the actual generation of electricity. Hampered by repeated delays in reauthorization, the <a href="http://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/report-lbnl-63583.pdf" target="_blank">federal production tax credit</a> has nevertheless been a key catalyst to wind power's ascent, reinforced by widely adopted <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/renewable-portfolio-standards.aspx" target="_blank">state-level renewable electricity standards</a> that require utilities to increase their reliance on wind and other sources of renewable energy.</p>
<h4>The Scaling up and Declining Cost of Wind Power</h4><p>The <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/2018%20Wind%20Technologies%20Market%20Report%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">average wind turbine today</a> is nearly three times taller than turbines built in the early 1990s. [See Figure 1.] This allows modern wind farms to tap the stronger, more constant winds that prevail at higher altitudes. Because wind power increases as the <a href="https://home.uni-leipzig.de/energy/energy-fundamentals/15.htm" target="_blank">cube of wind speed</a>, the gains from taller towers are particularly momentous.</p><p>A further boost to output comes from development and use of much larger rotors. Applying the formula for the area of a circle (A= π r2), an increase in blade length (i.e. rotor radius) translates into a disproportionate expansion of the rotor's "swept area," a key to determining the amount of wind that is captured and converted into electricity.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTM3MTM4Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTYzMDA2NH0.mhdauszORcFFz8RGba0MYBvW0L-eTht3B8gjDFbrfQU/img.png?width=980" id="6cbed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ab207c658ba7a88dc48c00e1027128a6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Source: Berkeley Lab, 2016
<p>While wind turbines have grown dramatically in size, the cost of building and operating U.S. wind farms has dropped in recent years, making them now fully competitive with the two other leading sources of new power generation: <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" rel="noopener noreferrer">solar</a> photovoltaics and combined cycle gas. According to Lazard, the <a href="https://www.lazard.com/media/450784/lazards-levelized-cost-of-energy-version-120-vfinal.pdf" target="_blank">levelized cost</a> of land-based wind power ranges from $29 to $56 per megawatt-hour; photovoltaics cost from $36 to $46 per megawatt-hour; and combined cycle gas runs from $41 to $74 per megawatt-hour. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nuclear</a> power is much more expensive at $112 to $189 per megawatt-hour.</p>
<h4>The Geopolitics of Wind</h4><p>As a non-carbon-emitting technology, wind power has a big environmental advantage over its leading <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" rel="noopener noreferrer">fossil fuel</a> competitors. Onshore and offshore wind has a <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/life-cycle-assessment.html" target="_blank">life cycle carbon footprint</a> of 20 grams or less of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent per kilowatt-hour. The "cleanest" natural gas power plants – those that use combined cycle technology – produce more than 400 grams of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent per kilowatt-hour. Supercritical <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" rel="noopener noreferrer">coal</a> plants – the least polluting in the industry – generate close to 800 grams of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent per kilowatt-hour.</p><p>While attractive to many who see <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change</a> as a real and immediate threat, wind power has developed much of its momentum in relatively conservative rural states [see Table 1]. In 2018, 13 states in the nation's interior region accounted for more than <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/2018%20Wind%20Technologies%20Market%20Report%20FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">80 percent of new wind capacity additions</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTM3MTYzNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDQ5NjIwOX0.ZwsCwpsBu74IiNd7SrbAlJF4WL-ghp0u6oVDMHMzqLM/img.png?width=980" id="70ec1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1fbed6ba432d98c425191eeb933405e0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Source: American Wind Energy Association, 2019
<p>Robust and relatively steady winds in the so-called <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/gis/wind.html" target="_blank">Wind Belt</a>, from Texas on up through the Dakotas, partially account for the heartland's heavy investment in wind [see map]. Economics are also at play. Not only are many of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2019/04/22/renewable-energy-job-boom-creating-economic-opportunity-as-coal-industry-slumps/#b454e536654b" target="_blank">111,000 American wind power jobs</a> located in rural areas, but substantial financial benefits accrue to farmers and ranchers who <a href="https://www.calt.iastate.edu/article/evaluating-wind-energy-agreement-brief-review" target="_blank">lease out small sections of their lands</a> to wind developers. Wind farm-generated tax revenues have also aided many cash-strapped rural communities.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTM3MTg0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTYyNzU0M30.5Rf_jKBL34k0LDL3B6kWGY-mBkQJ9rPi1Oz4YZs-gSY/img.png?width=980" id="6c0ff" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa8f8aa1529ff69aed8727d0bc163dba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, AWS Truepower
<h4>Watching out for Birds and Bats</h4><p>Estimates vary, but <a href="https://abcbirds.org/program/wind-energy-and-birds/learn-more/" target="_blank">hundreds of thousands of birds per year</a> are thought to be killed by wind turbines, and those numbers are expected to rise as wind power's use expands.</p><p>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has an <a href="https://www.fws.gov/radar/windpower/" target="_blank">Avian Radar Project</a> that helps wind developers identify and steer clear of major bird migratory corridors when siting new wind farms. At some operating wind farms where raptors and other vulnerable bird species may be present, specialized <a href="https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2018/how-new-technology-making-wind-farms-safer-birds" target="_blank">detection equipment and human monitors</a> can halt turbines as birds approach.</p><p>While bird fatalities are certainly cause for concern, wind energy proponents urge that they be viewed in perspective. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 365 to 988 million birds die each year by <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/threats-to-birds/collisions/buildings-and-glass.php" target="_blank">crashing into building windows</a>, and 89 to 340 million die in <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/threats-to-birds/collisions/road-vehicles.php" target="_blank">collisions with cars</a>. <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/threats-to-birds/collisions/communication-towers.php" target="_blank">Communication towers</a> and <a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/threats-to-birds/collisions/electric-utility-lines.php" target="_blank">electric utility lines</a> cause millions of additional bird deaths annually. And the ravages of climate change caused by fossil fuel burning will wipe out vastly greater numbers of birds as entire ecosystems are disrupted.</p><p>Efforts are also being made to minimize harm to bats living near wind farms. Because bats generally fly in low winds hunting for insects, studies have shown that their <a href="https://www.fws.gov/radar/windpower/" target="_blank">mortality rates can be minimized</a> by curtailing wind operations during these times – precisely when there are limited economic gains from keeping turbines running. The <a href="http://batsandwind.org/pdf/Tidhar%20et%20al.%202013.%20Beech%20Ridge%202012%20Post-construction%20Monitoring%20Final%20Report_1_18_13.pdf" target="_blank">Beech Ridge Wind Energy Project</a>, located in a wooded area of West Virginia, has been particularly engaged in these curtailment efforts.</p>
<h4>Wind Noise</h4><p>Another <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40857-017-0115-6" target="_blank">commonly expressed concern</a> involves noise resulting from wind power, with neighbors' complaints ranging from irritability, headaches and insomnia caused by audible sound to more tenuous claims of inner ear and sense of balance disturbances attributed to ultra-low frequency infrasound. While the transmission of turbine-generated sound can vary with topography and weather conditions, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/state-wind-energy-siting.aspx" target="_blank">setting a minimum setback</a> for wind turbines from the nearest inhabited buildings and outdoor public spaces is one important step that state and local governing bodies can take to protect wind farm neighbors and reduce public resistance to proposed projects.</p>
<h4>Offshore Wind – the Next Frontier</h4><p>Though well advanced in <a href="https://windeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/files/about-wind/statistics/WindEurope-Annual-Offshore-Statistics-2018.pdf" target="_blank">several European nations</a>, U.S. offshore wind got off to an unfortunate start with New England's hotly contested <a href="https://www.boem.gov/uploadedFiles/BOEM/Renewable_Energy_Program/Studies/Cape%20Wind%20Application.pdf" target="_blank">Cape Wind</a> project. Proposed for shallow waters near upscale vacation communities on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Cape Wind met with vigorous opposition. Substantially funded by fossil fuel interests, opponents objected to the project's high cost to ratepayers, but the anticipated visual impact of turbines on Nantucket Sound drew particular hostility. Backers <a href="https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20180622/cape-wind-lease-officially-comes-to-end" target="_blank">abandoned</a> Cape Wind in 2018.</p><p>There's new and increasing hope for U.S. offshore wind, with <a href="https://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Lease-and-Grant-Information.aspx" target="_blank">numerous federal leases</a> opening up large expanses of ocean acreage from New England down through the mid-Atlantic. <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/2018%20Offshore%20Wind%20Market%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">Technology advances</a>, including <a href="https://qz.com/1650433/hywind-scotland-makes-floating-wind-farms-a-serious-business/" target="_blank">floating turbines</a>, make it possible to place wind farms in deeper waters, farther from populated coastal areas. Equally important, <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/08/f65/2018%20Offshore%20Wind%20Market%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">much lower project costs</a> now make offshore wind a realistic competitor with other sources of power generation. Public concern and official analyses now focus on balancing wind development with <a href="https://www.boem.gov/BOEM-2019-049/" target="_blank">fisheries</a> and <a href="https://www.boem.gov/A-Framework-for-Studying-the-Effects-of-Offshore-Wind-Development/" target="_blank">marine mammal</a> protection and with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13437-018-0149-0" target="_blank">navigational safety</a>.</p>
<h4>The Way Forward</h4><p>As U.S. reliance on wind power grows, there is an increased need to build enough energy storage and <a href="https://www.energy.gov/oe/activities/technology-development/grid-modernization-and-smart-grid/demand-response" target="_blank">demand response</a> capability to absorb surplus power when it's generated and adjust to shortfalls when they occur. Modernized and expanded <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/documents/energy/wind_integration.pdf" target="_blank">transmission</a> also will be required, to manage the flow of electricity from diverse energy resources across broad geographical areas. Prioritizing these investments will be essential if wind is to meet its potential as a bulwark against runaway U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A future powered by renewables is possible! <a href="https://t.co/7mKaxnQB5w">https://t.co/7mKaxnQB5w</a></p>— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) <a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa/status/1145421752811622400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Philip Warburg, an environmental lawyer and former president of the Conservation Law Foundation, is the author of </em><a href="http://www.beacon.org/Harvest-the-Wind-P970.aspx" target="_blank"><em>Harvest the Wind: America's Journey to Jobs, Energy Independence, and Climate Stability</em></a><em><u>.</u></em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/10/an-introduction-to-the-state-of-wind-power-in-the-u-s/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Wind turbines off the Yorkshire coast. Paul Robinson / EyeEm / Getty Images
The world's largest offshore wind farm will now be powered with the world's largest wind turbine, The Guardian reported Tuesday.
<p><br>The new turbines, built by <a href="https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy" target="_blank">GE Renewable Energy</a>, are 220 meters (approximately 722 feet) high, nearly 300 feet taller than the London Eye. They have blades more than 100 meters (approximately 328 feet) long and will have the ability to power 16,000 homes each. The turbines will be installed in the Dogger Bank Wind Farms project, to be built off the UK's Yorkshire Coast next year by <a href="https://sse.com/whatwedo/sse-renewables/" target="_blank">SSE Renewables</a> and Norway's <a href="https://www.equinor.com/en.html" target="_blank">Equinor</a>.</p><p>"Dogger Bank will now be home to the largest offshore wind turbines in the world and to this pioneering low carbon technology, which will play a central role in helping the UK become carbon neutral by 2050," director of capital projects at SSE Renewables Paul Cooley told <a href="https://www.offshorewind.biz/2019/10/01/largest-wind-turbine-for-largest-offshore-wind-farm/" target="_blank">Offshore Wind</a>.</p><p>The UK became <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/theresa-may-net-zero-carbon-emissions-2638788121.html" target="_self">the first G7 country</a> to commit to carbon neutrality by mid-century this June.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/GErenewables?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GErenewables</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HaliadeX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HaliadeX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/offshorewind?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#offshorewind</a> turbines to power the world’s largest offshore wind project: 3.6 GW <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/doggerbank?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#doggerbank</a> <a href="https://t.co/zZb9P8dMpC">https://t.co/zZb9P8dMpC</a> <a href="https://t.co/wC184pVgKf">pic.twitter.com/wC184pVgKf</a></p>— GE Renewable Energy (@GErenewables) <a href="https://twitter.com/GErenewables/status/1178991721302151168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Dogger Bank is a shallow sandbank in the North Sea that some speculate may be the inspiration for Atlantis, <a href="https://www.ge.com/reports/atlantis-is-calling-ge-turbines-to-power-the-worlds-largest-offshore-wind-project/?utm_campaign=Dogger+Bank&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=external+%7C+twitter" target="_blank">GE Renewable Energy said in a press release</a>. It may have once connected the UK to continental Europe before being flooded by glacier melt 7,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age.</p><p>Now, the location could help stave off <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> caused by a different form of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>.</p><p>Equinor and SSE won a tender to build three wind farms in the area two weeks ago. Then, on Tuesday, they announced they would use GE Renewable Energy's massive Haliade-X model for the project.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SSE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SSE</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Equinor_UK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Equinor_UK</a> select <a href="https://twitter.com/GErenewables?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GErenewables</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HaliadeX?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HaliadeX</a>, the world's most powerful wind turbine, to power the world's largest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/offshorewind?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#offshorewind</a> farm <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/doggerbank?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#doggerbank</a>. Read more - <a href="https://t.co/F6NMfDl765">https://t.co/F6NMfDl765</a> <a href="https://t.co/SBiCe1sJZ4">pic.twitter.com/SBiCe1sJZ4</a></p>— GE Renewable Energy (@GErenewables) <a href="https://twitter.com/GErenewables/status/1178979626451968000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"We are excited to work with GE Renewable Energy to introduce the next-generation offshore wind turbine to the U.K. and be the first European wind farm to install and operate these innovative turbines," Dogger Bank Wind Farms project director Bjørn Ivar Bergemo said in the GE Renewable Energy press release.</p><p>The turbine is about a third more powerful than the most common models currently in use, The Guardian reported. Each turbine has the potential to save 42 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking 9,000 cars off the road for a year, according to GE.</p><p>"Our Haliade-X technology is helping our customers to make offshore wind a more competitive source of clean and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>," John Lavelle, president and CEO of GE Renewable Energy's offshore wind division, told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/wind-turbines-uk-homes-artificial-island-dogger-bank-wind-farms-a9127596.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a>.</p><p>Dogger Bank Wind Farms, which is set to start generating electricity in 2023, will be able to power 4.5 million homes each year, The Independent reported. That's five percent of the UK's current electricity generation. But the turbines will also be connected by cables to Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Belgium.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Netherlands?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Netherlands</a> is planning to build the largest offshore <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wind?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wind</a> farm on Earth by 2027. It could send power to 5 countries <a href="https://t.co/M5xtwDCBmE">https://t.co/M5xtwDCBmE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDG7?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SDG7</a> <a href="https://t.co/kem8sjy3Ae">pic.twitter.com/kem8sjy3Ae</a></p>— SEforALL (@SEforALLorg) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEforALLorg/status/952322050156310528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The Scout Moor Wind Farm in England. Stephen Gidley / CC BY 2.0
Britain just went a record 18 days without coal in the nation's bid to eventually nix the fossil fuel, the BBC reports. It beats the previous record of one week without coal set between May 1 and May 8 in what officials told the publication would be the "new normal."
<p>"Great Britain has now gone over 18 days (432 hours) without coal!" <a href="https://twitter.com/ng_eso/status/1135912947950149632" target="_blank">tweeted</a> the country's electricity system operator, National Grid ESO (NGESO), on the same day. "Due to plant availability and system requirements, our current coal run has come to an end at 9:20 p.m. this evening. 18 days and 60 hours."</p>
<p>When the coal sector is put out, the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> sources like <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" target="_self">solar</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind" target="_self">wind</a>, nuclear, gas, and some hydro-generated power pick up in its wake, the ESO told the BBC.</p><p>"As more and more renewables come on to the system, we're seeing things progress at an astonishing rate," NGESO Fintan Slye <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48473259" target="_blank">said</a>. "2018 was our greenest year to date, and so far, 2019 looks like it has the potential to beat it."</p><p>The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to announce a coal phase-out policy in an ambitious move to limit emissions on coal power stations from October 2025 following the 2015 Paris climate meeting. In an update posted earlier this year, Beyond Coal <a href="https://beyond-coal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Overview-of-national-coal-phase-out-announcements-Europe-Beyond-Coal-March-2019.pdf" target="_blank">reports</a> that the nation's "coal fleet is already halved from around 30 gigawatts in 2010 and by 2016 the coal share had fallen to 9 percent of the electricity mix, down from 40 percent just four years previously."</p>
<p>"By 2025, ESO will have transformed the operation of Great Britain's electricity system and put in place the innovative systems, products and services to ensure that the network is ready to handle 100% zero carbon," <a href="https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/zero-carbon-operation-great-britains-electricity-system-2025" target="_blank">said</a> Slye earlier this year, adding that a zero carbon operation in just six years requires a shift in operations and an integration of newer technologies, "from large-scale off-shore wind to domestic solar panels."</p><p>The move looks promising. The UK currently has installed more <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind" target="_self">offshore wind</a> power than any other nation, halving the cost of offshore wind in the last four years, reports <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-coal-power-energy-renewables-new-record" target="_blank">Wired</a>. Altogether, it's a dramatic shift from the coal-powered nation that made up Britain just a century ago during the Industrial Revolution.</p><p>"Coal was the backbone of the last industrial revolution — but this old technology is being beaten by wind energy, the powerhouse of our 21st century economy. Renewables are providing well over a third of our electricity today, and this is just the beginning. We need to move from fossil fuels right across the economy to avoid the enormous risks of climate disruption and to benefit from modern, clean, technologies," <a href="https://www.renewableuk.com/news/453816/Britain-hits-new-clean-energy-record-by-generating-electricity-without-coal-for-2-weeks.htm" target="_blank">said</a> RenewableUK Deputy Chief Executive Emma Pinchbeck.</p><p>Currently, about one-fifth of Europe's operational coal fleet are located in other countries which have joined ranks and similarly announced that they will phase out coal, putting the coal plants located in these nations "on a pathway to closure." </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BAM! Now THIS is leadership -->> World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens in Irish Sea <a href="https://t.co/g7PcWnTlYw">https://t.co/g7PcWnTlYw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wind?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wind</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CleanEnergy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CleanEnergy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActOnClimate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ActOnClimate</a></p>— Enviro Voter Project (@Enviro_Voter) <a href="https://twitter.com/Enviro_Voter/status/1037768984391831552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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De Molen windmill and nuclear power plant cooling tower in Doel, Belgium. Trougnouf / CC BY-SA 4.0
By Grant Smith
From 2009 to 2012, Gregory Jaczko was chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which approves nuclear power plant designs and sets safety standards for plants. But he now says that nuclear power is too dangerous and expensive — and not part of the answer to the climate crisis.
<p>"Nuclear power was supposed to save the planet," Jaczko wrote in a recent op-ed for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-oversaw-the-us-nuclear-power-industry-now-i-think-it-should-be-banned/2019/05/16/a3b8be52-71db-11e9-9eb4-0828f5389013_story.html?utm_term=.9b30d2aef929" target="_blank">The Washington Post.</a> As an atomic physicist, he once endorsed that view. But his years on the NRC changed his mind:</p><blockquote>This tech is no longer a viable strategy for dealing with climate change, nor is it a competitive source of power. It is hazardous, expensive and unreliable, and abandoning it wouldn't bring on climate doom. The real choice now is between saving the planet and saving the dying nuclear industry. I vote for the planet.</blockquote><p>Jaczko describes how his experience revealed the pervasive political influence of the nuclear power industry in Congress and among his fellow commissioners. Their opposition derailed much of the safety measures he proposed in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. In 2011 an investigative series by the <a href="https://ratical.org/radiation/radioactivity/USNRWSR.html" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> detailed the collusion between regulators and the industry to weaken safety standards to keep existing plants economically viable.</p><p>Jaczko's efforts to protect the American public <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Jaczko" target="_blank">likely cost him his career</a> at the NRC. He now leads an <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind" target="_self">offshore wind</a> power startup and is speaking out at an important juncture for the nation's energy future.</p><p>Electric utilities that operate nuclear plants are boasting of being "carbon free" by mid-century. They insist that their aging nuclear plants must be part of the equation to keep costs down. But even though Japan closed most of its reactors after Fukushima, carbon emissions went down, because the Japanese ramped up energy efficiency and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" target="_self">solar</a> investments.</p><p>"It turns out that relying on nuclear energy is actually a bad strategy for combating climate change," Jaczko wrote. "One accident wiped out Japan's carbon gains. Only a turn to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewables</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> brought the country back on target."</p><p>Jaczko's heightened concern for a nuclear accident in the U.S. is also well founded. The former director of the nuclear safety project at Union of Concerned Scientists, <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2016/02/nuclear-power-in-the-future-risks-of-a-lifetime/" target="_blank">David Lochbaum</a>, determined that the industry's efforts to continue to run aging nuclear plants 20 to 30 years or even longer than their initial licenses allowed for is akin to playing Russian roulette.</p><p>Since Fukushima, Germany has ordered the shutdown of all nuclear plants by 2022. Japan has reopened only a few reactors. Even France, long a champion of nuclear power, is ramping down its nuclear fleet because of safety concerns. But in the U.S., the Trump administration and lawmakers in some states continue to support <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/perry-says-federal-coal-nuke-bailout-not-dead-but-encourages-states-to-a/550461/" target="_blank">taxpayer-financed subsidies</a> to bail out money-losing nuclear plants. On grounds of both economics and safety, that's a fool's bet.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nuclear Power Is Economically Obsolete <a href="https://t.co/U09mUGk2a6">https://t.co/U09mUGk2a6</a> … <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CleanEnergy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CleanEnergy</a></p>— Earth Accounting (@EarthAccounting) <a href="https://twitter.com/EarthAccounting/status/1084133501807411200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Grant Smith is a senior energy policy advisor with Environmental Working Group.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A prototype of GE's massive new wind turbine will be installed in the industrial area of Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam. GE Renewable Energy
Rotterdam's skyline will soon feature the world's largest and most powerful offshore wind turbine.
GE Renewable Energy announced on Wednesday it will install the first 12-megawatt Haliade-X prototype in the Dutch city this summer. Although it's an offshore wind turbine by design, the prototype will be installed onshore to facilitate access for testing.
<p>
EcoWatch has written about this giant machine
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-wind-turbine-largest-2562912265.html" target="_blank">before</a>. At 853-feet tall, it's about three times the height of the Flatiron building in New York City. Its massive rotor diameter of 722 feet is roughly the tower height of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge above water.
</p><p>
It's not only big, it's incredibly powerful. On its own, a single Haliade-X can generate enough power to supply 16,000 European households, GE
<a href="https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/turbines/haliade-x-offshore-turbine" target="_blank">touts</a>, adding that a 750-megawatt wind farm configuration could produce enough power for up to 1 million homes.
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</p><div id="70761" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4LLZME1576662582"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="988828716913577984" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">World's Largest Offshore Wind Turbine Can Power 16,000 Homes https://t.co/Nrt218r1Zz @AWEA @ClimateReality… https://t.co/kTssTHGDqi</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/988828716913577984">1524590112.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Once it's up and running, the size and strength of the Haliade-X will surpass MHI Vestas' <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-wind-turbine-trump-2559323685.html" target="_self">9-megawatt turbines</a> installed at Vattenfall's offshore wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland.</p><p><span></span>Companies are investing in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-wind-turbine-ge-2541368284.html" target="_self">bigger and bigger</a> offshore turbines that can capture more wind and produce more power. This is appealing for wind farm operators because fewer turbines can simplify operations and lower maintenance costs.</p><p><span></span>"In our fight against <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy" target="_self">climate change</a> we need a massive expansion of the number of windfarms at sea," Alderman Bonte, responsible for Rotterdam's Energy Transition, said in a <a href="https://www.genewsroom.com/press-releases/ges-haliade-x-12-mw-prototype-be-installed-rotterdam-284662" target="_blank">press release</a>. "We are delighted that GE has selected the Port of Rotterdam as the test location for the Haliade-X 12 MW, which is the largest wind turbine in the world and can therefore help us accelerate the clean energy transition."
</p><p>
GE's installation plans were struck with Future Wind, a joint venture between <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy">renewable energy</a> consultant Pondera Development and SIF Holding Netherlands, which manufactures offshore foundations for wind turbines. The deal includes five years of testing and a 15-year full service operation and maintenance agreement.
</p><p>
This initial period of operations will enable GE to collect data needed for a Type Certificate, a "key step in commercializing the product in 2021," the company said.
</p><p>"As we rapidly progress on assembling the Haliade-X prototype, this announcement is a critical step forward for GE and our customers," John Lavelle, VP and CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said Wednesday in the press release. "The port of Rotterdam has been a real partner and provides all the necessary conditions to test the Haliade-X in the most drastic weather conditions."<br></p><p>GE is investing $400 million to develop the Haliade-X turbine to help reduce the cost of offshore wind energy "in order to make it a more competitive source of clean, renewable energy," the company said.<br></p><p>
This video illustration below shows how the turbine will appear in the industrial area of Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam:
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<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="96af5a7ce9f222f39a03c7a5b100f6e8"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wl227ZW518g?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">GE Haliade-X offshore wind turbine prototype - English</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl227ZW518g" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
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Wind farm with solar panels in southern California. 4kodiak / E+ / Getty Images
By Jeff Deyette
Despite the Trump administration's ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable advancement of renewable energy and other modern grid technologies.
<h3>1. California Goes All-In for Carbon-Free Electricity</h3><p>In late August, California—the world's 5th largest economy—committed to the target of fully decarbonizing its power sector by 2045. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california_cements_climate_leadership" target="_blank">landmark legislation</a> also strengthens the state's renewable portfolio standard (also known as a renewable energy standard, or RES) from 50 to 60 percent by 2030. What's more, at the bill signing, Governor Jerry Brown signed an <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/adrienne-alvord/even-more-than-100-clean-californias-audacious-net-zero-carbon-challenge" target="_blank">executive order</a> that establishes a goal of achieving carbon-neutrality across all sectors of California's sprawling economy by 2045, cementing the state's place as a global leader in climate action.</p><h3>2. Several States Strengthen Their RES Requirements</h3><p>State-level renewable electricity standards continued to be a primary driver of new renewable energy development in 2018. In addition to California, legislatures in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/nyregion/new-jersey-renewable-energy.html" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> (50 percent by 2030), <a href="https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=603448&A=4965" target="_blank">Connecticut</a> (40 percent by 2030) and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> (35 percent by 2030) all adopted stronger targets for renewable energy, accelerating their states' transitions away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>. In addition, voters in <a href="https://www.renewableenergyoutlook.com/2018/11/15/nevada-voters-approve-50-renewable-portfolio-standard-by-2030/" target="_blank">Nevada</a> overwhelmingly approved a measure to increase their state's RES to 50 percent by 2030 (the measure must be approved again in 2020 to officially become law).</p><h3>3. Clean Energy Champions Win Gubernatorial Races</h3><p>One of the bright spots in November's election results was the number newly elected governors who campaigned on aggressive clean energy and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> agendas. Newly elected governors in at least 10 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, have pledged to accelerate clean energy and carbon reductions in their states by supporting U.S. commitments to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, joining the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" target="_blank">U.S. Climate Alliance</a> and/or calling for renewable energy targets of 80 to 100 percent. These election results demonstrate the widespread support for greater investments in renewable energy and signal the push for even stronger clean energy policies in the coming year.</p><h3>4. Record Low Prices for Renewables</h3><p>Innovation, growing economies of scale and attractive financing continued to drive the costs down for renewables in 2018. Power purchase agreements for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> projects in states like Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have reportedly ranged between $20 to $30 per megawatt-hour, well below the cost of natural gas generation—and the technologies are positioned for further cost reductions to continue to be low-cost options even as federal tax incentives change. What's even more exciting is that the many of these low-priced projects also include energy storage components, increasing their value to the grid.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTI4Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjgyNzU1Mn0.bI6IPqCaQ5lv0mfn_9olwTo7DYY7JmCQBif5_Z4oFTc/img.jpg?width=980" id="39255" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a938f5634f4bb6b30e00b8c7bcad51b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
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<h3>5. Major Utilities Commit to Low-Carbon Portfolios</h3><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/xcel-commits-to-100-carbon-free-energy" target="_blank">Xcel Energy</a> became the first major utility to commit to a completely carbon-free electricity supply across the eight states it operates in. In doing so, it joins a <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeremy-richardson/utilities-look-toward-a-clean-energy-future-yet-the-administration-keeps-looking-back" target="_blank">growing number of utilities</a> that are committing to phasing out their use of coal and transitioning to substantially lower carbon energy portfolios. Also this year, both <a href="https://www.apnews.com/f876e5b74bc941fcadea30a99760aa59" target="_blank">Consumers Energy</a> in Michigan and <a href="https://nawindpower.com/indianas-nipsco-plots-coal-phaseout-transition-to-renewables" target="_blank">NIPSCO</a> in northern Indiana announced plans to phase out coal generation and utility giant <a href="https://www.powermag.com/aep-american-power-giant-sets-goal-to-slash-carbon-emissions-80-by-2050/" target="_blank">American Electric Power</a> announced a goal of reducing its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. What's especially exciting about these utility actions is that they are <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/trump-clean-energy" target="_blank">driven primarily by economics</a>, clearly demonstrating the competitiveness of clean energy technologies.</p><h3>6. Corporate Renewable Energy Purchases Keep Growing</h3><p>Low renewable energy prices continue to attract major corporations looking to save money and achieve ambitious <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> goals. As a result, direct corporate purchases of renewable energy have become a major driver of renewable energy deployment. In 2018, the Rocky Mountain Institute <a href="https://rmi.org/press-release/corporate-renewable-energy-procurement-continues-to-break-records-in-2018/" target="_blank">reports,</a> corporate renewable energy purchases—led by companies like Facebook, Walmart, ATT and Microsoft—reached more than 6.4 gigawatts (GW). The <a href="https://www.rmi.org/our-work/electricity/brc-business-renewables-center/" target="_blank">number of corporations</a> investing in renewables expanded at a record pace this year as well, with nearly two-thirds of Fortune 100 and nearly half of Fortune 500 companies now having set ambitious renewable energy goals.</p><h3>7. Offshore Wind Moves Forward</h3>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTIzNDE0N30.RlIl9Xnj7vZN7eXZ1QHJBJ4L53CBh31jzs7OBcTRPuQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="75b83" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d7ba97e1e4be27bc1bcb37140ad7ada" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons</small></p>
<p>While no new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind">offshore wind</a> projects came online in the U.S. this year (the next project—off the Virginia coast—is scheduled for 2020), the industry did take some big leaps toward becoming a major player in the nation's power supply. For example, the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/low-price-offshore-wind-massachusetts" target="_blank">winning bid</a> for Massachusetts' first request for offshore wind proposals to help meet the state's offshore wind requirements passed in 2016 went to an 800-megawatt project from Vineyard Wind at a shockingly low price of about 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In addition, the latest U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/auction-sets-america-on-course-for-offshore-wind" target="_blank">auction</a> for leasing parcels of water for future projects resulted in 11 bidders and $405.1 million in winning bids, both smashing previous records. And strong state policies, including <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/offshore-wind-massachusetts-rhode-island-new-jersey" target="_blank">new offshore wind requirements in New Jersey</a> and elsewhere, mean that there's a lot more action to come.</p><h3>8. Storage Steps Into the Spotlight</h3>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTAwNTg5N30.omEye9FYOO3TjOiWQPO-XImBKe0VJ1zpdcEeUfHDWW4/img.jpg?width=980" id="7f379" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7046e6104690287c1e001ebc573fbec9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Lithium-ion batteries for advanced energy storage</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Argonne National Laboratory / Flickr</small></p>
<p>Once a fringe player in the electric power sector, the energy storage industry is quickly emerging as a game changer in the transition to a clean energy economy as a tool for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy. In 2018, the pipeline for new storage projects doubled to nearly 33 GW as more utilities are investing in the technology thanks largely <a href="https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2018/" target="_blank">rapidly falling prices</a> and growing support from state policies. While California has led the nation in storage deployment to date, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-york-psc-sets-states-energy-storage-target-at-3-gw-by-2030/544371/" target="_blank">New York</a> recently established the strongest storage requirement in the country at 3,000 MW by 2030. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-jersey-sets-aggressive-target-2-gw-by-2030-for-energy-storage/524422/" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> set an ambitious storage target of 2,000 MW by 2030 and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> significantly increased its storage requirement to 1,000 megawatt-hours by 2025. At the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-order-opens-floodgates-for-energy-storage-in-wholesale-markets/517326/" target="_blank">Order 841</a>, which directs regional grid operators to set market rules that allow energy storage to participate on a level playing field in the wholesale energy, capacity and <a href="https://www.logicenergy.com/what-are-ancillary-services-and-why-do-power-grids-need-them/" target="_blank">ancillary services</a> markets.</p><h3>9. PG&E Turns Down the Gas With Storage and Renewables</h3><p>In one particular sign of what's to come in 2019 and beyond in terms of how these technologies fit together to displace fossil fuels, one of the most exciting <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/storage-will-replace-3-california-gas-plants-as-pge-nabs-approval-for-worl/541870/" target="_blank">regulatory decisions</a> I saw this year was the California Public Utility Commission's approval of PG&E's plan to use energy storage to replace retiring gas generators. One of the key barriers to fully transitioning to a carbon-free economy is replacing natural gas generation and the ancillary services they provide to the power grid. This decision, which marks the first time a utility will directly replace power plants with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">battery storage</a>, should spur <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/ca-and-western-states/turning-down-gas" target="_blank">many more similar projects</a> to move forward in California and across the country and open the door for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy onto the power grid.</p><p>These nine stories are just a sampling of what occurred in 2018 to further the clean energy transition. As the year comes to a close, UCS will continue to work hard to keep up the clean energy momentum in 2019.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5dfb0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EBO0FK1576662462"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="952909011506139136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">All Renewables Will Be Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels by 2020 https://t.co/QectZLGqOF #renewables @350… https://t.co/9rc89HJlCz</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/952909011506139136">1516026187.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Jeff Deyette is the director of state policy and analysis at the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeff-deyette/9-clean-energy-stories-from-2018" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em><br></p>
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U.S. Offshore Wind Auction Breaks Record With $405 Million in New Leases
18 December 2018
Renewable Energy
Turbines being built off of Block Island, Rhode Island in 2016 to make the nation's first offshore wind farm. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The U.S. government just smashed its own records when an auction on Friday to lease thousands of acres off the Massachusetts coast for offshore wind development brought in a whopping $405.1 million, signaling that this particular renewable energy sector is finally taking off at high speeds, Utility Drive reported.
<p>If fully developed, the leased area could generate 4.1 gigawatts of commercial energy, enough to power 1.5 million homes, the Department of Interior (DOI) said in a <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/bidding-bonanza-trump-administration-smashes-record-offshore-wind-auction-405-million" target="_blank">press release</a>. The auction was run by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), part of the DOI. Even former Interior Secretary <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ryan-zinke" target="_self">Ryan Zinke</a>, whose energy policies have generally favored <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, expressed excitement in one of his last statements <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ryan-zinke-resigns-2623640472.html" target="_self">before resigning Saturday</a>.</p><p>"To anyone who doubted that our ambitious vision for energy dominance would not include renewables, today we put that rumor to rest," Zinke said in the press release. "With bold leadership, faster, streamlined environmental reviews, and a lot of hard work with our states and fishermen, we've given the wind industry the confidence to think and bid big."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f5715" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GL9B491576663302"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1073730034110750720" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BIDDING BONANZA! Trump Administration Smashes Record for #OffshoreWind Auction with $405 Million in Winning Bids -… https://t.co/HVTBtkEEfC</div> — BOEM (@BOEM)<a href="https://twitter.com/BOEM_DOI/statuses/1073730034110750720">1544832163.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>In addition to the final price tag, Friday's auction broke several other records that indicate how far the U.S. offshore wind industry has come in a few years, the <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/?_ga=2.30017791.1943015827.1545125212-743300417.1545125212#.XBjFsmj7R6w" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> pointed out in a <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/auction-sets-america-on-course-for-offshore-wind" target="_blank">blog post</a>. Each of the three parcels for sale sold for around $135 million, more than three times the previous record-holding $42 million that Equinor paid for 79,350 acres off the coast of Long Island last year. Compared to the Long Island auction, Friday's bidding also nearly doubled the record for the number of companies participating, with 11 vying for the parcels over 32 rounds. Parcels went for more than $1,000 an acre, while Equinor had paid only $535 an acre a year ago.</p><p>The winners were Equinor, Vineyard Wind and Mayflower Wind, which is part of a collaboration including oil giant Shell. But the message the auction sent to the industry made even the losers feel like winners. At least that was the case for Bill White, North American offshore wind director for the German company EnBW. </p><p>"I remember almost literally begging companies to bid a few years ago," White told the Union of Concerned Scientists. "I don't think anybody would have predicted that this many companies, including oil and gas companies and utilities would be bidding. And none too soon with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> being far worse than ever."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTAxMTgzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDI4NDUzMH0.oXNaR9YtIpMsuSmR-a_pZAgtmoBr7XctXx3FKjuk1i0/img.jpg?width=980" id="8b022" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e20a52e4138ac87a7d187d51d738168" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The parcels leased on Friday to Equinor, in pink, Mayflower, in purple and Vineyard, in green.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">BOEM</small></p><p>Indeed, an attempt to auction off the same 390,000 acres off of Martha's Vineyard in 2015 got no bids. The U.S. has lagged about 20 years behind Europe in developing offshore wind power, but infrastructure investments in Massachusetts and legislative commitments to get more energy from offshore wind power in several Northeast states are turning the region into a hub of offshore wind development.<br></p><p>"I'm so proud to see this market come of age," White said.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b8ba4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="V8SATQ1576663302"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="972087227328139264" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Ryan Zinke Blames Wind Turbines for Contributing to Global Warming https://t.co/P8VotMcboJ @ewea @DeepwaterWind</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/972087227328139264">1520598630.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trending
World's Largest Offshore Wind Developer to Invest $30 Billion in Green Energy
28 November 2018
Renewable Energy
Offshore wind farm. Orsted
To save the world from climate catastrophe, the world needs to urgently phase out the use of fossil fuels.
On Wednesday, Danish energy company Orsted announced a major investment program as it seeks to become one of the "renewable majors" leading a global shift away from planet-warming fuels, Reuters reported.
<p>
Orsted, which built the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-wind-farm-largest-2602538337.html">largest offshore wind farm</a> on Earth, plans to invest 200 billion Danish crowns ($30.26 billion) in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy">green energy</a> between 2019 and 2025, the firm said.
</p><p>
Offshore wind projects will receive 75-85 percent of the total investment, while onshore investments will receive the remaining 15-20 percent. Bioenergy and customer solutions will constitute 0 to 5 percent of the spending.
</p><p>
Overall, Orsted (formerly Dong Energy) seeks to bump its share of green energy production to 99 percent by 2025, up from 64 percent in 2017.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d290f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="00L5NS1576662624"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1067675523923484672" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re raising our ambitions!
15GW offshore wind by 2025
+30GW renewable energy by 2030
99% renewables in our to… https://t.co/JeZQYcsPAP</div> — Ørsted (@Ørsted)<a href="https://twitter.com/Orsted/statuses/1067675523923484672">1543388656.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
"Today, our portfolio consists of 11.9 GW (gigawatts) of offshore and onshore wind farms and biomass-fired combined heat and power plants that are either in production, under construction or have been given final investment decision," Henrik Poulsen, Orsted's CEO and president, said in a
<a href="https://orsted.com/en/Company-Announcement-List/2018/11/1852037" target="_blank">press release</a>.
"Towards 2030, it's our strategic ambition to reach an installed capacity of more than 30GW, provided that the build-out creates value for our shareholders," he added. "As an important step, we're raising our 2025 ambition for offshore wind from 11-12 GW to 15 GW."
</p><p>
Poulsen said the global market for renewable energy is expected to more than triple towards 2030.
</p><p>
<span></span>In September, Orsted officially opened the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The 659-megawatt <a href="https://walneyextension.co.uk/en" target="_blank">Walney Extension</a>, located approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of Cumbria, England, consists of 87 turbines and is capable of generating enough <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy" target="_self">renewable energy</a> to power almost 600,000 UK homes.
</p><p>
<span></span>Offshore wind technology is rapidly advancing, and the Walney Extension is expected to lose its "world's largest" title to Orsted's <a href="http://hornseaprojectone.co.uk/en/About-the-project#0" target="_blank">Hornsea Project One</a> off the UK's Yorkshire coast. The under-construction wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2020 and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, or enough power for more than one million UK homes.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="6433a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="P7FBHE1576662624"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1037757372515672069" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">World's Largest #Offshore #Wind Farm Opens in Irish Sea @movetheworld
@projectaware @pbsnature
@rootsofchange… https://t.co/c8YKt8WsVL</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1037757372515672069">1536255612.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Pexels
By Marlene Cimons
The advantages of wind power are well-known. Wind is clean, plentiful and renewable. Installing turbines in large numbers could help wean our carbon-intensive civilization from its addiction to fossil fuels. New research suggests that one day there could be another major benefit: massive installations of wind turbines could lessen the deluge when powerful hurricanes bring devastating amounts of rain onto land. During such recent storms as Harvey and Florence—which brought historic levels of rainfall—this could have meant less flooding and destruction, and fewer deaths.
<p>"Offshore wind farms definitely could be a potential tool to weaken hurricanes and reduce their damage," said Cristina Archer, a professor in the University of Delaware's <a href="http://www.ceoe.udel.edu/" target="_blank">College of Earth, Ocean and Environment</a>, who conducted a recent <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad245" target="_blank">study</a> published in the journal Environmental Research Letters<em> </em>describing the impact of offshore turbines on hurricane rainfall. "And they pay for themselves, ultimately, which is why I am excited about this."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODc5MDQ4OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTA2ODY1Nn0.jz1TyCEeBvIyvlv04Ym1IVC1k66QVtI_D_LKdWQbq64/img.jpg?width=980" id="fad8a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3793a91f5a20347105565233bf4e27b5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jill_carlson/36885910546" target="_blank">Jill Carlson</a></small></p>
<p>Climate change has been driving larger and more intense hurricanes in recent years. Evaporating sea water fuels hurricanes, whose strength depends on how rapidly water can evaporate from the ocean. When sea water evaporates, it transfers heat from the ocean to the atmosphere, which converts it into wind energy, creating stronger and stronger winds. As the temperature of the water goes up, so does the rate of evaporation—and so does the wind. The warmer the ocean, the faster the evaporation. And climate change is heating up the oceans at an ominous pace.<br></p><p>In earlier <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2120" target="_blank">research</a>, Archer demonstrated that offshore wind farms absorb kinetic energy from hurricanes, reducing the effects of wind and storm surge. Her latest study suggests that turbines might also decrease rainfall for onshore locations downstream from a wind farm—when deployed in very large numbers. "The motivation for this new study was basically Harvey itself," Archer said. "It dumped an incredible amount of rain, and it was the rain that actually caused the flooding in the Houston area."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODc5MDQ3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjU1MTk3OH0.4qAkAVPcs680hnqwziWjjREEcDo_ofqzkQ8PQKqYxlA/img.jpg?width=980" id="529d5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="049dfa6ebf4599c2c5c415b4efee6c98" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Wind turbine in the clouds. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Pexels</small></p>
<p>To picture what happens when a hurricane meets a wind turbine—and how turbines can diminish rainfall—it's important to understand the two significant factors that influence precipitation, convergence and divergence. Strong hurricane winds slow down when they hit wind turbines, and move upward because they have no other place to go. This brings more moisture into the atmosphere, boosting rainfall. That is convergence.<br></p><p>Divergence is the opposite; it causes downward motion, attracting drier air that is moving downward, which suppresses precipitation.</p><p>"Think about convergence like when there's traffic on a freeway, and everybody is going fast and then—all of a sudden—there's an accident and everyone slows down," Archer explained. "You get a convergence of cars that backs up… That's the convergence upstream of the offshore wind farms. Divergence is similar to what happens when cars finally get past the accident and everybody speeds up."</p><p>Convergence and divergence occur naturally in many situations. "For example, wherever we have a low-pressure center—associated with storms in the mid latitudes—typically the surface winds converge towards it," Archer said. "Vice versa, wherever we have a high-pressure center, like during clear and warm weather, winds at the surface diverge out of it. When you have a change in land use, like from ocean to land, or from forest to pasture, this causes a change in the winds — deceleration from ocean to land, or acceleration from forest to grass -and thus you have convergence and divergence, respectively."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODc5MDQ3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNjE5NzQ2N30.WzCtnWzk2sHsDZO_NG_5b-d0qjX1GbSvDa3JN8yhcbA/img.jpg?width=980" id="177d1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3619f496fc4d059a5a5b4f08903a0e4e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Block Island wind farm — the only offshore wind farm in the U.S. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Island_Wind_Farm#/media/File:P6290638m.jpg" target="_blank">Ionna22</a></small></p>
<p>Over a wind farm, the wind speed slows "because that's what turbines do," she said. "They extract kinetic energy from the wind, therefore the wind behind them, downstream of each turbine, is weaker than it was upstream. Put more and more turbines together in a large farm and you can imagine that you would start causing convergence ahead of the farm, before the winds hit the first turbines, and divergence past it, after the farm, where the winds accelerate again."<br></p><p>Therefore, in order to have precipitation, there must be upward motion to bring moisture-rich air near the surface into the atmosphere, where it condenses and causes rain. "To get upward motion near the surface, you need to have convergence," she said. Then, "to kill precipitation, you need downward motion, which is what happens when you have divergence at the surface. Obviously you also need a moisture-rich environment to start with. If you have convergence in the desert, no matter how strong, there will not be precipitation because it is too dry."</p><p>That's why the scientists studied the impact of offshore wind farms, rather than land-based ones, as hurricanes form over water and dissipate quickly once they reach land. "There is plenty of moisture [offshore], thus it was more likely that we would see an effect," she said. "We looked at hurricanes because they last long enough that the patterns of convergence/divergence can form and persist. If you think about it, a hurricane lasts for days and causes strong, steady winds from pretty much the same direction—from the ocean to the land."</p>
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Turbines off the shore of Block Island. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofenergy/32665999325" target="_blank">U.S. Dept. of Energy</a></small></p>
<p>One current drawback is that turbines often are now turned off during high winds. Archer said their computer simulations took the "cut-off" wind speed into consideration, which currently is 76 miles per hour for the Enercon 126, a German offshore wind turbine model. However, <a href="https://www.siemensgamesa.com/en-int/newsroom/2018/09/siemens-gamesa-tailors-sg-80-167-dd-for-asia-pacific-markets" target="_blank">manufacturers now are developing new turbines</a> that will withstand even stronger winds, such as those in hurricanes and typhoons, and these are expected to be on the market in 2020, she added.<br></p><p>The scientists used numerical computer simulations that covered the coast of Texas and Louisiana, examining what might have occurred in the presence of offshore wind farms during Harvey. They looked at a wide range of numbers of turbines, over different sized areas, and in a variety of layouts.</p><p>"By the time the air reaches the land, it's been squeezed out of a lot of moisture," Archer said. "We got a 30 percent reduction of the precipitation with the Harvey simulations. That means, potentially, if you have arrays of offshore turbines in an area where there are hurricanes, you will likely see a reduction in precipitation inland…"</p><p>The study used hypothetical turbines ranging from a control case of zero turbines to a maximum of 74,619, a number currently unrealistic for the U.S., she said. Unlike Europe—where there are more than 100 offshore wind turbines—the U.S. only has five, all part of the nation's first and only <a href="http://dwwind.com/project/block-island-wind-farm/" target="_blank">offshore wind farm</a> located on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island.</p><p>The largest configuration had 74,000 and the smallest 22,000, she said. "So these are high numbers by all means," she said. "By comparison, there are about 300,000 turbines in the world today."</p><p>Although she believes the more turbines the better, the scientists found the found positive effects even using fewer turbines or placing turbines over a smaller area. "For example, you do not need to have [turbines covering a large area]," she said. You can get pretty much the same benefit with [a smaller layout] placed 'smartly' for Houston."</p><p>With 33,363 turbines over a medium sized area, they saw a reduction of 15 percent in the Houston metropolitan area. With 28,197 turbines over the small [area], they saw a reduction of 10 percent, she said. "We get greater reductions in other locations, but we focused on the totals for Houston metropolitan."</p><p>At this time, she said the researchers can't project the optimal number of turbines needed, although "the more [offshore] wind farms you have, the more impact they will have on a hurricane," she said. "By the time a hurricane actually makes landfall, these arrays of turbines have been operating for days and days, extracting energy and moisture out of the storm. As a result, the storm will be weaker. Literally."</p><p>She pointed out that communities can build sea walls or artificial barrier islands to protect against storm surge. But these won't protect against rain. "The costs are high and they only serve one purpose," she said. "An alternative is to build offshore wind farms, which [ultimately] pay for themselves, generate clean and renewable energy, and—cherry on top—protect against hurricanes, including rain and storm surge."</p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/putting-speed-bumps-in-hurricane-alley-57e2c079cce" target="_blank">Nexus Media</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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The Walney Extension. Ørsted UK
The world's largest offshore wind farm opened in the Irish Sea on Thursday, covering an area of 145 square kilometers (55 square miles).
The 659-megawatt Walney Extension, located approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of Cumbria, England, consists of 87 turbines and is capable of generating enough renewable energy to power almost 600,000 UK homes.
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The 87 turbines are located in the Irish Sea, covering an area the equivalent of 20,000 football pitches.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Ørsted UK</small>
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To compare, the 175-turbine London Array—now the second largest offshore wind farm in the world—has a 630-megawatt capacity, or enough to power about half a million homes.
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The Walney Extension is run by Danish energy giant Ørsted (formerly Dong Energy) and the Danish pension funds PKA and PFA.
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The project was constructed on time and within budget, Ørsted UK managing director Matthew Wright said in a
<a href="https://orsted.com/en/Media/Newsroom/News/2018/09/05/17/28/The-worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm-opens-today" target="_blank">press release</a>.
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<span></span>The wind farm features 40 MHI Vestas 8-megawatt turbines and 47 Siemens Gamesa 7-megawatt turbines, the first project to use wind turbines from two different manufacturers. That's less than half the number of turbines used at the London Array, but Walney's turbines are more powerful.
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"It's another benchmark in terms of the scale. This—bigger turbines, with fewer positions and a bit further out—is really the shape of projects going forward," Wright told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/06/worlds-largest-offshore-windfarm-opens-cumbrian-coast-walney-extension-brexit" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.
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MHI Vestas turbines stand 195 meters (213 yards) tall, and are <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scotland-wind-turbine-trump-2559323685.html" target="_blank">the most powerful</a> being used globally.
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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Ørsted UK</small>
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The UK government approved the Walney Extension contract in 2014 that promised a minimum price of £150 ($195) per megawatt hour for 15 years. Since the contract was awarded, costs of offshore wind plummeted more than 50 percent, with the latest auction dropping as low as £57.50 per megawatt hour,
<a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-windfarm-orsted/worlds-largest-offshore-wind-farm-opens-off-northwest-england-idUKKCN1LL37G" target="_blank">Reuters</a> noted.<span></span>
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Offshore wind technology is advancing at a rapid pace, meaning the Walney Extension could soon lose its title. For instance, Ørsted's
<a href="http://hornseaprojectone.co.uk/en/About-the-project#0" target="_blank">Hornsea Project One</a> off the UK's Yorkshire coast is expected to be fully operational by 2020 and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, or enough power for more than one million UK homes.
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The Netherlands is also planning a
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-wind-farm-netherlands-2523620979.html" target="_blank">massive offshore wind farm</a> proposed by Dutch electric grid operator <a href="https://www.tennet.eu/nl/" target="_blank">TenneT</a>. If that gets the green-light, the <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/europeans-are-planning-to-build-man-made-island" target="_blank">10,000-turbine complex</a> could produce up to 30 gigawatts of power by 2027. That's enough electricity to power a city of 20 million people.
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Watch here to learn more about the Walney Extension:
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