Dominion wind project gets final 2 permits
"The facility, 25 miles in the Atlantic off the #VirginiaBeach Oceanfront, will have 176 turbines capable of generating enough electricity to power up to 660,000 homes.
The more than $9 billion project is due to come on line in 2026."
#Virginia #OffshoreWind
https://richmond.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/dominion-energy-offshore-wind-virginia-beach/article_70be5e70-bf7f-11ee-a0d1-2baecbf317bd.html
Offshore wind is not dead, far from it.
"The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved two #OffshoreWind power projects with a combined capacity of 3,742-megawatts (MW) and whose backers include Invenergy and TotalEnergies.
The BPU said the two projects would bring about $6.8 billion in economic benefits to the state and provide enough energy to power around 1.8 million homes.
In total, the state wants about 11,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2040."
Same story as in NJ:
Whales struck by ships
"A collection of conservative groups filed a lawsuit to put a stop to Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Turbine project. They're arguing the project could impact endangered whales.
Multiple dead whales washed up on Virginia shores two weeks ago.
Scientists said, however, those whales had signs of ship strikes.
A spokesperson for Dominion Energy told News 3 the issues raised in the lawsuit have "no merit.""
There's a reason the anti-offshore-wind arguments sound familiar:
"The [researchers] say the “report reveals how these East Coast offshore wind opponents are not solely local – they are embedded in a network of seasoned fossil fuel interests and climate denial think tanks that have perfected obstruction tactics for decades.”
One striking aspect of the anti-OSW network is the sharing of tactics and rhetoric, both in mainstream media and on social networks, said Slevin."
"Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource plan to build a 924-megawatt project, #SunriseWind, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk, New York. They say the wind farm will power about 600,000 New York homes when it opens in 2026."
You know that "windmills kill birds" crap?
That's part of the fossil fuel industry's smear campaign against clean wind energy.
"A study to be published in 2024 found that wind farms had no statistically significant effect on bird counts. But another kind of energy did. Fracking reduced the total number of birds counted in near shale and oil production sites by 15%."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/02/04/green-energy-fact-checked/72390472007/
[Edit to add]
It's the same with the "windmills kill whales" crap.
While windmills do kill birds (not many, see above), not a single whale has been killed by offshore wind turbines. However:
"Since late 2022, anti-offshore wind groups have weaponized incidents of whales washing ashore on beaches along the East Coast. A growing network of anti-offshore wind actors with documented ties to the oil & gas industry has been swift to exploit these tragedies," even though it's ships that kill the whales.
https://climatenexus.org/climate-issues/offshore-wind-whales-disinfo/
"A federal court has rejected the appeal filed by a group of #Nantucket residents aimed at stopping the #VineyardWind #OffshoreWind energy project southwest of the island."
“At this point, there is no scientific evidence that noise resulting from offshore wind site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales,” NOAA states. “There are no known links between recent large whale mortalities and ongoing offshore wind surveys."
The Science Is Clear: #OffshoreWind Isn’t What’s Killing Whales
"It is starkly clear that human activity—in the form of ships that hit #whales or fishing gear that wraps around them—is often to blame.
There are "no links whatsoever between the offshore wind development activity and especially the humpback whale mortalities. None. Zero.""
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whales-are-dying-but-not-from-offshore-wind/
Offshore wind opponents in Australia, Europe lean on US groups for advice
"These groups are among a dozen or more local activist organizations across the U.S., Europe and Australia who told Reuters they have begun sharing tactics, talking points and other resources in their common mission to derail #OffshoreWind – a development they hope will transform what was once a disorganized scattering of local activists into an increasingly sophisticated global network."
@CelloMomOnCars The pollution from oil & gas spills and the water heating etc. from climate change certainly isn't doing the whales any good.
And just my pedant. Wind turbines. Wind mills are for grinding grain and are a bit old school.
It is the heating waters that made the whales' food move - into the shipping lanes.
But "wind turbines", while correct, doesn't rhyme. As in,
"Offshore wind mills,
or offshore oil drills:
Your choice."
@CelloMomOnCars @ariaflame if a whale or other marine mammal is washed up here (or closer to London), it is usually due to a collision from entering shipping lanes, the turbines are 50-100 km away from where the whales are ending up.
Even the well fed cats round here don't catch as many birds these days, I've seen them sleeping in gardens with all sorts of birds twittering above their heads..
@CelloMomOnCars Ah, OK artistic licence. Not a problem
@CelloMomOnCars
Also, simple autopsies will confirm that plastics account for many whale deaths. Plastics made from oil...