Eos Energy Enterprises CEO Joe Mastrangelo discusses ways to improve US energy systems and storage after the deadly winter storm and Texas power outages.
President Biden’s Interior Department announced on Monday that it had completed its analysis of a $ 2 billion offshore wind project that the government hopes will represent a model for increasing wind power production along the East Coast.
The Vineyard Wind Project is an 800-megawatt wind power project in federal waters off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and aims to generate enough electricity to power up to 400,000 homes in New England.
“Offshore energy development offers an opportunity for us to work with tribal nations, communities and other ocean users to ensure that all decisions are transparent and use the best science available,” said the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Amanda Lefton, on a Monday demonstration.
She added that BOEM appreciates “everyone’s participation in the process” and hopes “to continue working with stakeholders in the future analysis of offshore wind projects”.
The University of Maine’s 9,000-pound prototype generates power off the coast of Castine, Maine. (AP Photo / Robert F. Bukaty, Archives)
If approved, the Vineyard Wind project would be the first utility-scale wind energy development in federal waters. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.
“We look forward to reaching the final step in the federal licensing process and being able to launch an industry that has enormous potential for economic development in communities up and down the east coast,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen, in a statement.
A previous Massachusetts offshore wind project called Cape Wind failed amid opposition from the Kennedy family and businessman William Koch, among others, who considered it a monstrosity that kills birds in its views of the ocean.
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Proponents say Vineyard Wind, located about 15 miles offshore, is better situated than Cape Wind and uses superior technology with fewer and bigger turbine blades. Under a preferred alternative being considered, the project’s giant turbines will be located at least one nautical mile from each other, allowing fishing boats to move more easily around the paddles, officials said.
“The Biden government is putting the wind back in the sails of this vital new industry,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., A former cheerleader for the Vineyard Wind project, in a statement. “Responsible wind development off our coast (will) energize the economy, provide affordable electricity and take us even further in a climate-safe future.”
Critics say that excessive growth in wind power capacity could put power grids at risk of shortages.
Three of Deepwater Wind’s turbines are in the water near Block Island, RI (AP Photo / Michael Dwyer, Archives)
“Wind power can be a niche source of electricity that complements the most reliable sources in certain regions, but any wind project must make economic sense on its own terms,” Robert Murphy, a researcher at the Independent Institute and senior economist at the Institute for Energy Research told Fox News.
He added that he did not think the federal government should “explicitly encourage the growth of wind energy, whether it be President Biden’s plan to double wind energy offshore by 2030, or the recent proposal for a 30% tax credit for investments in offshore wind energy. for projects that start construction by 2025. “
“In general, these subsidies distort markets when the government chooses winners and losers,” said Murphy. “Specifically in the case of wind power, excessive capacity growth can leave power grids vulnerable to shortages during periods of high demand.”
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He noted the February freeze that shocked Texas and its power grid, causing increased demand for energy sources.
“On the first day of the blackouts, February 15, the cold hampered the production of several sources, but natural gas supplied 46% of its maximum theoretical installed capacity, while the wind provided only 10%. By its very nature, the wind is an intermittent source that should always rely on more traditional sources of electricity as a backup, “said Murphy.
The Alliance for Responsible Offshore Development (RODA) expressed concern that the project could interfere with fishing and local economies and have a negative environmental impact. She also said that the public did not have the opportunity to express an opinion on the new developments.
Gay Head Light flashes a white sign in Aquinnah, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan, Archives)
RODA executive director Annie Hawkins told Fox News that the Vineyard Wind project and “other proposed projects in an area of 1,400 square miles in New England will have major impacts on commercial fishing.”
Some of his concerns are related to safety and “the ability to move through turbine fields that are too big to circulate”; other concerns are related to “economic impacts”, including “loss of gears, displacement, access to the port, use of fuel and ice [and] increased insurance costs, if insurance is available. “
Hawkins also expressed skepticism about job promises and whether “there will really be net job creation when offshore wind jobs are mostly foreign and are not responsible for job losses in the fisheries sector”.
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“Then there are the ecological effects of large-scale industrial projects that will convert millions of hectares of ocean habitat, introduce large amounts of artificial materials into the environment, alter oceanographic processes on a scientifically unknown scale and impede our federal government’s ability to assess the health of the fish stock in order to establish catch quotas, “said Hawkins.
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She said the government needs to communicate clearer information to the public “regarding the impacts of these projects; the results for the environment, energy and taxpayers; and a clear way to protect US seafood and the communities that provide it.”
Fishermen “want solutions”, she concluded, but “there was no regional or national strategic planning with fisheries experts”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.