[devane617]

Help me understand why these leases are auctioned instead of given for free to companies that can develop them? This $757M will need to be passed to consumers when this place is developed. Wouldn't it be better to give the leases out and require the companies to pass the savings to consumers. I must be missing something.

[Lurker]

“Wouldn’t it be better to give the leases out and require the companies to pass the savings to consumers. I must be missing something.”

But then how would all these wind farm companies donate the money they were just handed back to the politicians who gave it to them? They can run this scam for a decade before the entire scheme collapses in ruin. But money will change hands. Lots and lots of it.

L

[Organic Panic]

It will be fun watching the greenies eat each other over this. “Save the whales” vs “save the planet”

[hinckley buzzard]

Offshore wind is not “well established in the UK.” it is about bankrupt, and is why UK energy has skyrocketed in cost. They have some very costly windmills off the coast of Scotland and that’s about it. Offshore wind will never be cost effective.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

They are following the plan set out for auction of RF spectrum and leases of federal lands for minerals and grazing. It’s a “public resource” and should be sold, not given away. But the idea that WE pay for it in the products and energy we buy and that the money flows to FedGov is reprehensible.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

This is utter lunacy. There's no worse place to put a power plant than offshore. It is about the most inclement location on the planet.

I worked on outdoor coal-fired boilers in really tough places (Wyoming, high desert of Arizona) and it is not easy keeping those plants running. It is a hundred times worse offshore.

This is a ten year old paper, so reliability has probably gotten better. But it was abysmal in 2012 and the climate in which these machines must operate has not gotten any better.

In fact, with all the Greenie Weenie knickers-twisting moaning about more frequent and much stronger storms, why would they even propose putting windmills in such inhospitable places where you cannot repair and maintain them? Their argument for much more frequent and violent storms tells you that this is lunacy.

Review of offshore wind turbine failures and fault prognostic methods

SECTION II.Failures of Offshore Wind Turbine
Electrical control, gearbox, yaw system, generator, hydraulic, grid and blades are rated (60% of the total failures) as the most common failure components of wind turbines (>1.5MW) in the study of Danish turbines [6] (Figure 2). Those challenges cause extra cost on emergency maintenance, component screening, physical designs and so forth.

A. Electrical Control Failures
Damages of generator windings, short-circuit and over voltage of electronics components, transformers and wiring damages are the common failures of electrical control. These failures are reported as the results of lightning, poor electrical installation, technical defects and resonances within resistor-capacitor (RC) circuits.

B. Yaw System Failures
Yaw control system controls the nacelle rotation to place the blades facing the desired angle. It was reported that the cracking of yaw drive shafts, fracture of gear teeth, pitting of the yaw bearing race and failure of the bearing mounting bolts are all categorized as Yaw System Failures [10]. Icing problem in extreme weather and high vibration level during overload are also claimed as the cause of the failures.

C. Gearbox Failures
Gearbox is usually found in the turbines nowadays. However, it was one of the most frequently damaged rotational components in turbine. The failures are usually wearing, backlash, and tooth breakage. They are claimed as the result of particle contaminations, frequent stoppage and starting and high loaded operation conditions.

Figure 4. Tooth breakage caused by frequent [wind turbine] stoppage and starting.

E. Hydraulic Failures
Hydraulic components are used in many high pressure connections located in pitch, yaw, braking system and gearbox lubrication system. The leakages of these components are called hydraulic failure. Since the offshore turbines are usually located in extreme environmental conditions, the failure may occur during high/low temperature, corrosion, vibration. The reasons behind are claimed as improper installation, poor system design, poor component quality and system abuse. The improper installation rated as 60% of the total failure causes.

F. Blade Failures
Blades are the main rotors of wind turbine and they transfer wind power into up-lifting force by fluid dynamic physical design. Usually, any blade damages, cracks, breakups and bends are said as blade failures. Causes of the blade failures include turbulent wind, out-of-control rotation, lightning and production defects. [4] reported that a broken blade had travelled as far as 1.3km from its tower. Many countries, hence, set up regulations to forbid their civilians to get close to wind farms such as US and Germany.

[Carriage Hill]

“I must be missing something.”

You’re simply missing the payoffs, graft, corruption and crime involved in the green energy scam. Nothing ever goes back to us consumers, as fees, rates and taxes keep rising.

[WKUHilltopper]

Torpedo bait…

[MtnClimber]

Just wait to see how much they make auctioning unicorn hamster wheel generators.

[sasquatch]

How else are we going to pay for Solyndra 2.0?

[deport]

Texas Wind Generation Capacity by Year (MW)
..
Texas Wind Generation by Year (MWh x 1000) ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas

[Glad2bnuts]

You are correct on all points.

How are they going to get the power generated to the end point user? Big extension cords? This is absolute madness.

[mewzilla]

Hope someone checks out the ownership for these companies.

What I’ve found so far is...interesting.