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First US Offshore Wind Power Park In Delaware
Dekortage writes "Offshore wind power company Bluewater Wind has announced an agreement to build America's first offshore wind turbine park off the coast of Delaware. 'Each turbine [will sit on] a pole about 250 feet above the waterline... the units are to be constructed to withstand hurricane-force winds. From the shore, the park will be visible only on clear winter days, and the turbines will be nearly invisible during summer months when Rehoboth Beach fills with vacationers. Each blade on the three-blade rotor is to be 150 feet long.' The wind farm will power 50,000 homes in Delaware, using about half of its capacity."
My family usually makes a trip every year to Bethany Beach, which is just a bit south of Rehoboth Beach. While I understand that it's better for most tourists if the turbines are not visible, it'd be cool if we could make it into a real-life science "field trip" for the kids sometime in the future.
Are there any plans for something like a small boat trip to see them up close? Maybe they could build a museum?
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
All the states around the great lakes could use these as well. What surprises me, is that if you have the pole there, then why not add in tidal or even wave power as well? I believe that the expensive part about all this, is getting anchored securely to the floor.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I wonder if it would be feasible to use the base upon which the turbines sit to put in place tidal generators as well.
They're not answered anywhere on the company's website or in the article...
The answers to these questions are important when determining whether this project is worthy of support or not:
Who is paying to build the windfarm?
Who gets to keep the profit from the windfarm?
For the windfarm they wanted to build around here, the answers were "me" (through tax dollars), and "not me" (as in some private corporation got to keep the profit, even though they didn't pay for the initial investment). Luckily a sufficient number of people were able to see that they were getting screwed through the veil of "environmental responsibility" in order to get the project canceled.
Living in Delaware definitely has its perks. Blue crabs, the beaches, pumpkin' chunkin' festivals , scrapple (mmm!). Also, fans of craft beer will note that Dogfish Head is brewed there too.
[1] http://www.bluewaterwind.com/de_overview.htm
[2] http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/10000.html
each blade is over 3 times larger than an 84 passenger schoolbus, and will be subjected to hurricanes. not to mention its *barely* visible from the local beach...so long as its packed to capacity and people are squinting past their sunscreen. sounds like a great plan!
Good people go to bed earlier.
Surely an offshore windfarm would reduce wind speeds on the shore behind it? It seems like this could turn a breezy summer day into an uncomfortably hot day given the right circumstances. Everyone considers wind power to be environmentally friendly by default. Has research been done about the effects it could have on weather and climate?
That is somewhat insane, sort of...as others point out there is some fallacy in why that is insane though.
What is insane about it is that the cost is highly inflated, both initial and maintenance-wise, because it is being built _in_the_ocean_.
That is what is insane, never mind stupid and senseless.
Build it onshore and the cost comes way down. This looks almost like it is a project designed to 'prove' that wind power is not financially viable.
No Comment.
What could the long term affects be, other than those caused by the actual manufacturing of the turbine itself? Someone else on Slashdot, way back, suggested that if we wanted to see the affect of covering an entire continent with wind power generators, look at the affect the massive tree growth in Europe had on wind. The end result will be the same. That is to say, there won't be any problems. Wind power is just a strange form of Solar power. As long as there are temperature differentials between areas (caused by the sun) as well as other affects, there will be wind regardless of what we put in the way.
The article talks about the wind farm being so far offshore that you can't see it, as if this is a good thing. Why do people not like to look at wind turbines 1 mile out? I can understand not wanting one over your head, but why don't people who own real estate nearby think they look cool, not just intrinsically but also for what they represent?
Honestly, we need some hard-headed leadership that will literally jam through as many alternative energy solutions as possible, even if they are only close to being cost effective. By diversifying our energy resources we will lower the overall cost. Part of the reason oil is so high is because the market is so nervous about a disruption.
Every time you look at a windmill, if you are so lucky to own some nice coastal real estate with one in sight in the future, please think about the lives saved, think about the money not going to corrupt governments, think about how much you're helping the planet. Maybe then you will protest to HAVE them in your sight, instead of not. They are beautiful.
Can anyone enlighten me as to how offshore platforms such as in TFA will be able to withstand such a corrosive environment while remaining cost effective?
Well, try being from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
About one in ten US companies tries to connect you to their international shipping department when you call in an order...
I'm aging rapidly, I bought a new game and had no idea if my machine was good for it.
that's close to what my electric bill is now
Why does everyone seem to think I was saying this would be the electric costs/month?
This isn't the cost to produce electricity, nor the cost it will sell at. It's JUST the cost to produce the plant divided over 25 years. Maintenance, transmission, and any overhead aren't included.
The cost of the actual electricity is a totally different number. The point here is that the construction costs alone are VERY high.
AccountKiller
Hear hear!
I've often wondered what the objection is as well. --Having seen acres of white windmills, I can honestly say I was filled with pride at the sight. They were actually quite beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint. Without making any judgments about other forms of power generation, compare the simple aesthetics of wind power to the gray cooling towers associated with nuclear power, or the toxic smokestacks from coal burning plants.
I think the complaints are almost more grudging responses to the implication that we have been in some ways irresponsible and dirty as a culture with respect to our approach to power generation. Because people don't like to feel guilty, they choose instead to sneer at and complain about alternative solutions. --Or perhaps they are squeamish about things they register as being, "Touchey-Feeley", (like a grade school kid being afraid of cooties. "Caring about the environment is GAAAAAY! EEEWWW!"), and so they react in the same way.
Don't laugh. I know far too many grown men who are emotionally still stuck in Jr. High. While this kind of behavior is more prevalent among geeks than the gen pop, there appears to be a counter-balance in effect; that is, some of the most enlightened people I've ever met are also geeks, and their enlightenment derives exactly through geekdom. Geeks are extremists.
-FL