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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.
Proteste gegen riesige Windräder im Wald
[Protests against huge wind turbines in the Waldviertels forest] Das haben sich die Windkraft-Unternehmen W.E.B & Co vielleicht doch etwas einfacher vorgestellt. Ziemlich leise und an den Gemeindeabstimmungen vorbei haben sie die größte optische Veränderung des Waldviertels in Angriff genommen, die man jemals gesehen haben wird – wie mittlerweile mehrere Waldwindkraftgegner das bezeichnen. Aus dem touristisch interessanten Waldviertel im nordwestlichen Niederösterreich „wird eine Wind-Industriezone“, wie Michael Moser von der IG Waldviertel formuliert. Das will man nicht einfach so hinnehmen. Die . . . Complete story »
Expertos advierten de que el despliegue a gran escala de la eólica marina plantea un dilema ecológico en Europa
[Experts warn that large-scale deployment of offshore wind poses an ecological dilemma.] La Unión Europea (UE) ha invertido casi 17.000 millones de euros en los últimos 15 años en ayudas para el sector de las energías azules -entre las que se engloba la eólica marina-, una importante inversión que pretende impulsar la consecución de los objetivos del bloque en materia de energía y clima. Sin embargo, será necesario realizar un esfuerzo para que este despliegue significativo de energía renovable marina . . . Complete story »
Wind energy public hearing approaches, opinion poll circulates
On Monday, Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. in the Lincoln County district courtroom on the third floor of the courthouse, the county commissioners will hold a public hearing to take testimony in support or opposition of proposed changes to zoning regulations of large-scale, commercial and utility-grade wind and solar energy developments. At least two major developers have taken steps to build wind generators in Lincoln County. In 2020, the company, Invenergy, negotiated a contract with NCORPE to build generators about . . . Complete story »
Bird pooped Walkaway wind turbines turned away with no quarantine facility at Mid West Ports Authority
Bird poo–contaminated wind turbines from China have been turned away from Geraldton Port due to a biosecurity risk, fuelling concerns over a lack of quarantine facilities for big imports. A vessel transporting large wind turbines was due to dock in Geraldton on Friday, September 8, but was rejected after it was found the shipment had been tainted with bird faeces while at sea. The wind turbines were redirected to Fremantle to be washed at a quarantine facility and will be . . . Complete story »
Vestas Tara wind farm project rejected by several landholders
A confidential proposal to build one of Australia’s biggest wind farms on the Western Downs has been knocked back by several landholders due to concerns over decommissioning. Danish company Vestas is proposing to develop a 1200MW, 167-turbine wind farm south of Tara, with the aim to start construction by 2027. For comparison, Acciona Energia’s 1026MW, 180-turbine MacIntyre Wind Farm near Warwick will be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere when finished in 2024. The Vestas Tara Wind Farm Project brochure . . . Complete story »
State governors seeking federal help for offshore wind industry
A group of U.S. governors is calling on the Biden administration to help ease the “extraordinary economic challenges” that have combined to threaten not only future offshore wind development, but also the number of projects that are already under way. In a letter submitted to the White House, the governors of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island say “inflationary pressures, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering supply-chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic” have resulted . . . Complete story »
Brazil’s big cats under threat from wind farms
Weighing more than 100 pounds, big cats have long reigned over this hot and semi-arid region of Brazil, developing tougher paws for the scorched earth and reaching speeds of 50 miles an hour to bring down wild boar and deer. But nothing could have prepared them for the 150-foot blades now slicing up the deep blue sky above them. Jaguars and pumas are facing extinction in the Caatinga, Brazil’s northeastern shrublands, as Europe and China pour investment into wind farms, . . . Complete story »
Foreign investors will reap 92 percent of profits from Aroostook County’s King Pine wind power scheme
When the 170-turbine 1,000 megawatt King Pine Wind Farm in Aroostook County becomes operational near the end of the decade, the majority of the profits from the sale of electricity to New England ratepayers will head to the other side of the planet. That’s because Longroad Energy, the Boston-based developer that will manage the wind farm, is 92 percent owned by large foreign investment funds, including one controlled by a foreign government, according to financial records reviewed by the Maine . . . Complete story »
The Biden Administration misleads the public on the vast expanses of land needed for ‘net zero’
The Biden administration is misleading the country about the amount of land that will be required to meet its ambitious renewable energy goals, RealClearInvestigations has found. The Department of Energy’s official line – echoed by many environmental activists and academics – is that the vast array of solar panels and wind turbines required to meet Biden’s goal of “100% clean electricity” by 2035 will require “less than one-half of one percent of the contiguous U.S. land area.” This topline number . . . Complete story »
Why won’t Greenpeace admit that wind turbines may be killing whales?
Who cares about whales? Whales might be dying because of sonar surveying, but Greenpeace simply ignores the science that doesn’t suit it. So far last year, 71 whales have washed up dead on the shores of New England and neighbouring states. The rate seems to have risen in recent years along with a growth in the number of offshore wind turbines. A small group of concerned citizens have started to campaign against the turbines on behalf of the whales, and . . . Complete story »
