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First US Offshore Wind Farm To Usher In New Era For Industry (ap.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Associated Press: The nation's first offshore wind farm is set to open off the coast of Rhode Island this fall, ushering in a new era in the U.S. for the industry. Developers, federal regulators and industry experts say the opening will move the U.S. industry from a theory to reality, paving the way for the construction of many more wind farms that will eventually provide power for many Americans. Deepwater Wind is building a five-turbine wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island to power about 17,000 homes. The project costs about $300 million, according to the company. CEO Jeffrey Grybowski said the Block Island wind farm enables larger projects because it proves that wind farms can be built along the nation's coast. Offshore wind farms, which benefit from strong winds because of their location, are being proposed near population epicenters that lack the space to build on land. Indeed, several states are pushing ambitious clean energy goals, which include offshore wind. Among them is California, which has a target of generating 50 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030. Vermont hopes to hit 55 percent by next year and Hawaii has called for 100 percent renewable power by 2045.
As a former marine engineer I have doubts. Unless materials science has changed dramatically, things do not thrive in ocean environments. Those materials that last longest tend to be very expensive. Maintenance on land based windmills is expensive and dangerous ... out there it will be a serious problem.
...omphaloskepsis often...
it will take 16.96 years to pay that $300 million back.
That is about a 6% ROI, at a time when banks get 3.5% on 30 year mortgages. Seems like a good investment to me.
Meanwhile, in England, Theresa May just semi-canceled the Hinkley Point nuclear project because the falling price of wind energy was making new nukes uncompetitive.
you'll make profit only for the last 3 years of the 20 year lifespan.
The "max 20 year lifespan" is something that Ravenshrike (the GPP) pulled out of his butt. There are offshore turbines in Denmark that already exceed that, and we have learned a lot about building offshore turbines since then. For instance, modern turbines are much bigger and installed much higher above the water than they were 25 years ago. These turbines will stand more than 100 meters above the sea. There is very little salt spray up that high. They will likely be active for much longer than 20 years.
It's slashdot not talk radio so how about numbers in megawatts instead of "enough to power X homes" or volkswagens per libraries of congress or similar utterly useless descriptions?
If they made so many installations then they must have made some headway on maintenance in a salt water environment.
Or they "must" be paying a ton of money to keep the white elephants spinning.
I've seen the future of wind farms, at the southern tip of Hawaii, in the plains of California... after fifteen to twenty years of playing with the toys they all end up as decaying eyesores once people realize they cost a lot more than they give back in power.
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