offshore wind
Wind and whales: ‘No evidence’ links projects to deaths
Duke University marine biologist's assessment debunks claims advanced on Fox News The U.S. offshore wind power industry is in its infancy, with just a handful of turbines installed along the Atlantic coast. But they’re already being blamed for the deaths of whales that have washed up on beaches in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and elsewhere.
Offshore wind will need major investments in transmission, supply chain, reports say
Achieving the aggressive offshore wind power goals of the federal government and individual states will require billions of dollars in spending on transmission infrastructure, “unprecedented” cooperation between grid operators and federal and state agencies, and would be aided by major buildout of a domestic supply chain, per a pair of reports released this week. Coastal states across the country, from North Carolina to California to Louisiana to Maine, are pushing for offshore wind projects. But authors of the reports see potential bottlenecks looming, both in the supply chain to build and install turbines as well as in the ability to bring the electricity ashore.
For offshore wind aspirations to become reality, transmission hurdles must be cleared
President Joe Biden’s administration laid out ambitious additional goals last month to boost offshore wind power generation, one of the American renewable energy industry’s emerging wide open frontiers. The federal announcements come as coastal states across the country are increasingly setting offshore wind energy targets, seeking to capture not just clean energy but the potentially big economic benefits of their ports serving as hubs for the vessels, blade manufacturing, cables and other infrastructure needed to get turbines more than 850 feet tall installed miles out at sea.
Biden administration targets deep waters near Oregon, Maine for new offshore wind power
WASHINGTON—The Biden administration will seek to add deep-water offshore wind energy, a developing technology that isn’t yet widely used, to its mix of renewable energy sources, administration leaders said last week.Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland told reporters on a White House call that their departments would advance efforts to increase capacity […]
Monday numbers: Duke Energy’s carbon reduction plan still allows for methane emissions, major driver of climate change
Duke Energy's proposed carbon reduction plan calls for steep cuts in carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, but does not decrease other types of emissions that drive climate change, according to filings with the state Utilities Commission. House Bill 951, now law, directed the state Utilities Commission to "take all reasonable steps" to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from Duke Energy: 70% from 2005 levels by the year 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050.
Biden administration will auction 110,000 acres off NC coast for wind energy
The federal government will lease more than 110,000 acres south of Bald Head Island for offshore wind energy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced today. The auction is scheduled for May 11. If developed, the offshore wind project could generate least 1.3 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, enough to power nearly 500,000 homes. BOEM completed […]
Offshore wind industry leaders ask Congress to back long-term plans to increase production
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is making a significant push for new offshore wind development to meet ambitious climate goals, but industry leaders say they also need long-term commitments and support from Congress to reach their potential. Leaders of the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry called on Congress to invest in renewables at a hearing of a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel Thursday.
NC figures to play a major role as Biden banks on offshore wind to help curb climate change
WASHINGTON — Two wind turbines, each as tall as the Washington Monument, stand sentinel 27 miles off the coast of Virginia, the nation’s first offshore wind installation in federal waters. The pilot project began producing power last October but is just the beginning for an industry poised for massive growth over the next decade.
The best editorial of the weekend: What wind power could do for NC (and the planet)
If you missed it, be sure to check out the lead weekend editorial in Raleigh’s News & Observer – “Strong winds off the coast could power a clean energy economy in North Carolina.” As the authors explain, it’s long past time for us to move aggressively to make use of North Carolina’s plentiful offshore winds […]
Monday numbers: Offshore wind(fall) could create the clean jobs people are clamoring for
Tune in to nearly any public environmental meeting and you'll hear residents of environmental justice communities repeatedly clamor for clean jobs: not pipelines or wood pellet plants, but careers in industries that will break the cycle of generational poverty, while leaving the planet a more hospitable place for future generations.
With a $9 million bid, Avangrid wins offshore wind farm lease near Kitty Hawk
This is what $9 million will buy: The historic Powerhouse Square on West Street in Raleigh. More than 11,000 iPhones. Seven heart transplants. Three weekend trips to Mar-a- Lago for President Trump. And 122,405 acres of ocean and its floor off the North Carolina coast. The Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management today held a […]
Bidding reaches $7.5 million for state’s first offshore wind farm — and it could go higher
[Update 2: In Round 17, one company bid $9 million. No other company has matched or exceeded it. Stay tuned for the BOEM’s announcement of the winning bid.] [Update 1: There have now been 15 bidding rounds, for $7.5 million. The number of companies bidding just dropped to two.] Twelve rounds of bidding, four companies and […]