It’s no secret that the past several months have been challenging for the wind power industry, especially when it comes to offshore projects. Major developers have sought to renegotiate power-purchase agreements (PPAs) signed years ago, delayed work on some projects, and walked away from others, despite severe financial repercussions in some cases. On top of all that, only one of three offshore tracts available in the U.S.’s first Gulf of Mexico lease auction for wind power attracted any bids. It all amounts to a major setback in the Biden administration’s goal for the nation’s electricity to be 100% carbon-free by 2035. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the significant challenges being faced by wind power developers, what they mean for the projects currently under development, and some changes that could eventually help bring more of the renewable power online.
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We’ve written a lot over the past couple of years about how the ongoing energy transition isn’t going to be a straight line leading directly to abundant, carbon-free power and a net-zero world. The increased deployment of electric vehicles (EVs), the development of large-scale carbon-capture projects, and the creation of a flourishing clean hydrogen industry are all seen as important elements in a cleaner energy economy with significant long-term potential, but each faces their own headwinds to widespread adoption and long-term growth. For offshore wind, the tune is mostly the same, even if some of the notes are a little different.
On the positive side, U.S. offshore wind development has been growing at a crisp pace in recent years. The project development pipeline (see Figure 1 below) was at 52,687 megawatts (MW) as of May 31, 2023, according to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) annual Offshore Wind Market Report, up 15% from the previous year. In addition, the first two commercial-scale offshore wind power plants in the U.S. — Vineyard Wind 1 and South Fork Wind — have achieved major milestones this year. Vineyard Wind 1, which is located about 15 miles south of Massachusetts’s Martha’s Vineyard, completed installation of its offshore substation in July and its first turbine was shipped to its location in early September. The project is expected to begin generating power in October. (Vineyard 1 is a 50/50 partnership of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.) Construction on the South Fork Wind Farm, located between Martha’s Vineyard and the eastern end of New York’s Long Island, began in 2022 and it is expected to begin operations before the end of 2023. (South Fork is a 50/50 partnership of Ørsted and Eversource.)
Figure 1. U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Pipeline by Classification Status as of May 31, 2023. Source: Offshore Wind Market Report
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About the song
“When the Wind Blows” was written by David Bowie and Erdal Kizilcay and appears as the first song on the soundtrack album for the 1986 animated film When the Wind Blows. Released as a single in October 1986, the song went to #44 on the U.K. Singles chart. The lyrics are based on the film’s tale of a rural English couple’s attempt to survive a nuclear attack and its aftermath. Personnel on the record were: David Bowie (vocals, production) and Erdal Kizilcay and David Richards (production).
When the Wind Blows Soundtrack Album was recorded during the winter of 1985 in London. It features tunes written by Roger Waters and performed with his Bleeding Heart Band, along with artists David Bowie, Genesis, Hugh Cornwell, Squeeze, and Paul Hardcastle. Bowie was originally slated to provide the majority of songs for the album, but decided to pass so he could focus on his upcoming LP at the time, Never Let Me Down. The soundtrack album was released in May 1986 along with the film directed by Jimmy Murakami.
David Bowie (David Jones) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He released 26 studio albums, nine live albums, 26 compilation albums, two soundtrack albums, eight EPs and 128 singles. He has sold more than 140 million records worldwide. Bowie was featured in 37 motion pictures and television shows. He won four Brit Awards, six Grammy Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, has a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bowie died in January 2016 in New York City at the age of 69.
Comments
Off shore wind generation has the same pitfalls as land-based wind generation, with additional caveats that corrosive salt water and underwater construction add to the mix. Wind generation is a sham. Without massive subsidies and massive rate increases on consumers, they simply do not pencil out. Now with the environmental costs (ignored in the article) of whale deaths, the projects should all be cancelled. Wind generation is intermittent, unreliable, expensive, land intensive, and high maintenance. These projects are DOA, and they don't even know it yet.
First off, thanks for taking the time to read the blog.
I did not include the environmental aspect of the debate in this blog because it doesn't appear to be a major factor in the projects that I touched on in detail, but it's certainly a part of the larger discussions around offshore wind.