Great Story on Biden/Harris Offshore Wind Fiasco

If Biden-Harris admin’s offshore targets met, dozens of toxic blades could pollute, estimates show

[Note: This story is by Kevin Killough at JustTheNews.com]

ccording to Wind Power Engineering & Development, a trade publication, there were an estimated 3,800 blade failures out of 700,000 blades spinning on operating turbines worldwide in 2018, representing a 1.5% failure rate per turbine, as they each have three blades. At that rate, over 30 300-foot turbine blades could break off and fall into the ocean every year, if the Biden-Harris administration’s offshore wind targets are reached. 

Thousands of turbines

The Barr Foundation published a survey in July of 400 Rhode Island voters, which found that 70% wanted more of their electricity to come from offshore wind. This was shortly before a blade shattered on a turbine off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in July, spreading debris across beaches of New England ever since.  

The Rhode Island Current reported Friday that a new poll, conducted by MassINC Polling Group, of 800 likely voters in September finds that only 58% of them want more energy from offshore wind. The poll didn’t ask opponents why, but the potentially toxic debris from the blades have been reportedly found on the beaches of Rhode Island. It’s possible the incident has had some negative influence on public attitudes towards offshore wind. 

The Biden-Harris administration is hoping to build 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. How many turbines will be needed to reach that goal is difficult to say for certain. The turbines at Vineyard Wind, which is the project where the blade broke off, produce on average 13 megawatts when the wind is blowing. The turbines at the Atlantic Shores project, planned off the coast of New Jersey, will produce about 14 megawatts per turbine. 

Some proposed turbines produce as much as 20 megawatts when the wind is blowing, but these also use larger blades. Should one break off, it would have a much larger impact. The largest commercially deployed offshore wind turbine is 14.7 megawatts.