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Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Archer Co. Sheriff confirms identity of man in fatal wind turbine accident
The Archer County Sheriff’s Office identified the man who died after falling inside a wind turbine Wednesday evening. The man, 31-year-old Marco Anthony Portillo Jr. was a resident of Weslaco, according to Sheriff Jack Curd. Portillo was on the job of a windmill project entitled “Windthorst II Wind” on April 24 under supervision of EDF Renewables. When he began to climb into the turbine, he fell and was pronounced dead on the scene. The sheriff’s office, Air Evac, AMR and . . . Complete story »
Cutting down trees for offshore wind project puts homes at risk, residents say
Dominion Energy is under fire from homeowners in one Virginia Beach neighborhood as residents say all the trees the company has taken down as part of its offshore wind project has put their homes in danger. Right behind John Rooney’s property line in the Pine Ridge neighborhood, Dominion Energy has cleared a 140-foot wide strip of trees to make way for power lines that will carry power from the offshore wind turbines to a substation in Chesapeake. Rooney said that . . . Complete story »
Energy company criticised over use of ‘incognito security guards’ at consultation events
An opponent of plans to build a network of pylons across mid Wales has expressed concern that the firm behind the project has hired ex-military personnel to monitor public consultation meetings incognito. Dr Chris Langley has attended meetings in Llandeilo and Llandovery hosted by GreenGen Cymru, which has the same ownership as Bute Energy, which wants to build a parallel network of wind farms. ‘Agitated’ He said: “GreenGen Cymru is holding a series of consultation events about its route of . . . Complete story »
Wind energy off Morro Bay faces fisher lawsuit and marine sanctuary issues
Three new wind farms in the waters north of Santa Barbara County have run into a few obstacles in their attempts to bring offshore wind to the Central Coast. On top of discussions with government agencies and the Northern Chumash tribe, the three developers face a lawsuit from two San Luis Obispo fisheries claiming that “best practices” are not being used in the process of approving and building off the coast of Morro Bay. The lawsuit was filed by the . . . Complete story »
WInd turbine fire
At 4:41am today the Fire Department and Ambulance responded to a report of a windmill on fire located at 876 Rte. 189, Churubusco. Chateaugay responded with mutual aid. Trucks remained on scene. Complete story »
Angry campaigners against plans for England’s biggest wind farm near Hebden Bridge join forces for public meeting
Three groups have united to host a public forum to explore concerns they have over a giant windfarm proposed for thousands of hectares of moorland near Hebden Bridge. The Pennine Heritage Trust, in partnership with Hebden Bridge Literary and Scientific Society and Stop Calderdale Wind Farm, have organised the forum, which will be held next month. It is in response to Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd’s proposals for a 65-turbine wind farm on more than 2,300 hectares of land at Walshaw . . . Complete story »
Paradise saved: Ark Energy withdraws project
Victory can be declared in the battle to save Chalumbin Forest. Ark Energy, a subsidiary of Korean Zinc, was just a ministerial tick away from ripping into hundreds of acres of tropical forest in the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland. Late yesterday, the company withdrew its application for the renamed Wooroora Station Wind Farm after receiving information from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water that the proposal would not be approved. The war against the . . . Complete story »
Ill winds generate little electricity
Sir, – Herbert Petrie (Letters, April 17) is wrong when he claims that Scotland “can generate electricity for 25 million homes every day”. Most of Scotland’s generating capacity is wind power and there are scores of days each year when the country is becalmed – often at night when there’s no solar energy. For example, on 24 Feb at 23.55, UK wind turbines across the land and sea with a capacity of 23,076 MW were generating a minuscule 160 MW and this . . . Complete story »
3 New York wind farms scrapped
New York pulled the plug Friday on three offshore wind projects that encountered pricing problems after GE canceled the development of a larger turbine that the developers had been counting on. The decision is a setback for the US offshore wind industry and may have some cost implications for Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, which are in the midst of a joint procurement for offshore wind power. The three wind farms proposed for the coast off New York were all . . . Complete story »
New York says it is not moving forward with three offshore wind farms
New York State on Friday stalled three major offshore wind-energy projects after General Electric Vernova (GE.N) changed the turbine design, which the state said “materially altered” the plans. New York provisionally approved the projects in October 2023. They are Attentive Energy One being developed by TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), Rise Light & Power and Corio Generation; Community Offshore Wind, which is backed by RWE (RWEG.DE), opens new tab and National Grid Ventures (NG.L); and Vineyard Offshore’s Excelsior Wind. But since then, GE . . . Complete story »