Offshore Wind Gets a Warning From Its Biggest Developer

gCaptain ^ | William Mathis and Christian Wienberg

[fishtank]

By William Mathis and Christian Wienberg (Bloomberg) –

[fishtank]

[fishtank]

.... They’re saying that the offshore wind farms won’t generate quite as much power as they first promised....

I’m shocked.

/sarc

[blueunicorn6]

People lied to make money off of baloney environmental claims?

Say it ain’t so, Al! Say it ain’t so!

[moovova]

Well, that sucks...or blows...or doesn’t.

I’m not sure.

[Tucker39]

Ocean City and the State of MD are about to drop a ginormous bundle on a wind farm in the Atlantic, offshore of Ocean City Beach. It was supposedly a done deal, but then the scheisters who sold the deal tried to Welsh on placing it far enough beyond the horizon to make it not visible from shore. Still haggling, I think.

[CivilWarBrewing]

"Those GREEEEEDY Green Energy people, AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

[Chode]

do I really have to say it???

[hecticskeptic]

The change will drop what’s called the lifetime load factor to 48%, down from a range of 48%-50%. That figure represents an estimate of how much electricity the machines produce divided by the potential capacity of the turbines. Since the wind doesn’t always blow strongly enough to turn the wind turbine blades, the load factor is always lower than capacity.

If they are suggesting a drop of 2%, rest assured that what they really should be dropping it by is much more than that....

[CruiseMates]

Just wait until all the seagulls start dropping into the ocean after hitting the blades on those things - bringing swarms of hungry great white sharks living right off the beach.

[BatGuano]

I have see many wind farms and the ones that are “off shore are the ugliest. There is no terrain or land features that absorb the ugliness of the wind turbines. South of Copenhagen, Denmark there are many wind turbines that mar the visual enjoyment of the Baltic Sea side.
Another, not often mentioned feature of these windmills is that, at night, there are strobe lights that flash constantly to warn birds and low flying airplanes of their presence.
Recently, in Italy, we were on a bus trip from Bari, IT to Naples, IT and the strobes were visible from horizon to horizon!
Ugly is not the word for this. Also, the cost of each unit is so great that the payoff is too long to make them worth the trouble..

[bjc]

Load factors in Europe do not come close to 48% except in a few isolated locations.
http://energynumbers.info/capacity-factors-at-danish-offshore-wind-farms

[EQAndyBuzz]

“People lied to make money off of baloney environmental claims?”

Audit their books. Put them in prison. It’s the only way to get rid of corrupt politicians and their business partners.

[tet68]

Just wait till they come up with Gulf Stream Hydro turbines.
Enormous facilities submerged in the ocean.
Sure, a few fish and whales will get chopped up but
the efficiency will be so much better.

[rolling_stone]

unintended consequences, the liberals cant see past their nose

[Robert A Cook PE]

Good find for actual offshore capacity factors of actual offshore windmills! Thank you.