Cape Wind has officially pulled out of its bid to develop a wind farm in Nantucket Sound, bringing an end to the controversial project.
Cape Wind Associates has officially pulled out of its bid to develop a wind farm in Nantucket Sound, bringing an end to the controversial project that began in 2001.
“Cape Wind has confirmed to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that it has ceased development of its proposed offshore wind farm project in Nantucket Sound and has filed to terminate its offshore wind development lease that was issued in 2010,” the company stated in a press release sent out on Friday.
Cape Wind pioneered the U.S. offshore wind market beginning around 2001 with its plan to build 130 wind turbines on Horseshoe Shoal, an area of federal water in Nantucket Sound nine miles east of the Vineyard.
The project never got off the ground, though, and has been sidelined by lawsuits over the years. The company was dealt a significant blow in 2016, when a landmark energy bill awarding state-required energy contracts limited these new contracts to companies whose projects are at least 10 miles from shore and who acquired federal leases in a competitive process after Jan. 1, 2012. This excluded Cape Wind, whose windfarms would have been easily visible from the Vineyard and the mainland.
In a press release on Friday, the company stated that “Despite strong support from the public and environmental advocates, an opposition group funded largely by wealthy waterfront homeowners and led by a fossil fuel billionaire filed more than 25 appeals in a continuous effort to obstruct the construction of the project.”
Over the years the project has faced numerous detractors, while at the same time being lauded as a source of clean energy. Vineyard seasonal resident Walter Cronkite even weighed in on the subject, first coming out against the proposal, and then reversing course in 2003, saying he preferred to be a more objective observer of both the process and project.
In Friday’s press release Jim Gordon, Cape Wind CEO, concluded by saying, “During Cape Wind’s development period we successfully developed over a billion dollars of renewable solar and biomass energy projects and, although we were unable to bring Cape Wind to fruition, we are proud of the catalyzing and pioneering effort we devoted to bringing offshore wind to the United States. Our successful resolution of the multiple appeals established important legal precedents that will hopefully make it easier for other offshore wind developers that follow.”
Comments
If more voters cared enough
Helen ParkerIf more voters cared enough to examine the counter-productive fantasy of depending on sunshine and breezes for life-sustaining energy, we might yet stem the tide of the wind industry invasion which promises only to leave unfathomable detritus littering land and sea forever.
Reporting on Friday’s Cape Wind announcement, Bloomberg News notes that ‘several of the developers [planning industrial wind projects up and down the East Coast] said they learned a key lesson from Cape Wind: don’t try to build within sight of shore.’ It’s a dishonorably reassuring line:
The Martha’s Vineyard Times reminds us that three companies are scheduled to submit bids later this month to site wind farms just 15 miles off the southern coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
A 2012 BOEM-sponsored Offshore Wind Turbine Visibility study found that “small to moderately sized facilities were visible to the unaided eye at distances greater than 26 mi, with turbine blade movement visible up to 24 mi. At night, aerial hazard navigation lighting was visible at distances greater than 24 mi.” IWTs have grown a lot since 2012.
The recently-installed Block Island Wind Farm turbines are 574’ tall, almost half again as tall as the 397’ onshore Falmouth turbines which catch the eye from Vineyard Haven’s Beach Road 11 miles distant.
More importantly, state taxpayers and ratepayers (job-seekers too) will suffer the rocketing costs arising from our aggressive energy bill, passed in 2016, which requires MA utilities to buy a combined 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2027.
Today The Australian offers a highly readable explanation of how a power grid dominated by weather-dependant wind and solar has resulted in South Australia power consumers paying the highest power prices in the world, while becoming increasingly vulnerable to sustained energy blackouts during peak demand periods.
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/12/02/guilty-subsidised-wind-solar-dri…
See also: Industrial Wind: A Net Loser:
https://www.masterresource.org/windpower/wind-loser/
Twenty Bad Things About Wind Energy: https://www.masterresource.org/grassroots-opposition/20-bad-things-wind…
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/11/10/minnesota-throws-billions-at-win…
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/12/01/germanys-wind-solar-obsession-pu…
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/11/14/kaput-german-wind-farms-set-for-…
Helen, you didn't provide
Robert Skydell ChilmarkHelen, you didn't provide readers with a link to the highly pertinent story (only days old) about Elon Musk/Tesla installing the world's largest battery in the world in South Australian to mitigate the supply/demand problems you cite. Furthermore, what you refer to as 'fantasy' is the fastest growing source of power generation worldwide (unlike the fantasy of 'clean coal') and has been for quite some time.
Bob - my primary link above,
Helen ParkerBob - my primary link above, in its 4th line, references Musk’s ‘$150 million battery which would power South Australia for four minutes when the wind stops blowing.’
See also https://stopthesethings.com/2017/03/19/south-australias-risible-ret-res… “Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk has milked South Australia’s problems for plenty of publicity… But Musk’s money-back guarantee always was on meeting a 100-day installation deadline rather than actually fixing South Australia’s problems….Sure, SA will deploy a big bank of batteries to smooth out the peaks in demand — equal to several minutes of total state requirements…. But with the heavy emphasis on peaking power, …what will happen when doldrum conditions again strand wind turbines for long periods over summer?”
Gee, Helen, I guess the 38
Carol formerly ChilmarkGee, Helen, I guess the 38 million people who live in California are going to be pretty surprised to find out that the 30% of their electricity they currently receive from the "fantasy" of solar and wind is - fiction! I guess we were all just dreaming.
Here's the painfully obvious point about electricity usage that you pro-fossil-fuel people always evade: the vast majority of electricity is usage is during the day - for business, manufacturing, homes & schools. Demand, when graphed, looks like a bell curve, with peak demand between 3 & 9 pm, on average.
This politically motivated
deshandra brown EdgThis politically motivated 'feel good' project was nothing but an attempt to force ratepayers to pay at least three times the current cost of electricity to subsidize this pipe dream. Former Governor Deval forced the Massachusetts utilities to buy this overpriced electricity. If it was viable, it would have succeeded on its own. It would be a visual blight on the most pristine views of the world. WHY has nobody bothered to embrace 'marine current turbines', which are underwater and accomplish a RELIABLE (tidal) supply of renewable electricity? There are successful private companies doing this in Scotland without a dime of taxpayer/ratepayer money.
I hope they are gunna take
Edmund Cottle 3rd MvI hope they are gunna take down the tower they put up!
Jim Gordon and Cape Wind came
Robert Skydell ChilmarkJim Gordon and Cape Wind came along over fifteen years ago and shook us out of our complacency regarding energy production in America. Many, including myself, started out as doubters and 'energy ignoramuses' but came away fervent supporters. Although Cape Wind will remain an unbuilt vision it transformed the way we think about our energy.
It was bold from the start and fraught with all sorts of assaults from extremely well-healed opponents, but Gordon went all fifteen rounds and, whether you were for or against this controversial project we are all far better off for it.
Although still lambasted by certain media outlets today, renewable, sustainable energy production of many sorts is here to stay and is the future for America. We are finally leaving our gas-guzzling, entitled attitudes behind in droves and embracing innovative technologies of all sorts, including wind. Fortunately, there are courageous, visionary people like Jim Gordon willing to take on such seemingly insurmountable challenges to lead the way.
At some time you will figure
JJLutz Bangor, MaineAt some time you will figure out that no matter how much wind energy you can produce, how many wind turbines you can build, how many solar panels you can put on roofs, you will still need 85% of your electric energy produced from reliable, steady baseload generators like gas, coal, hydro, nuclear or biomass. Germany has found that out, just as they have in Southern Australia. Wind and solar simply can NOT be counted on in times of high demand as sometimes the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine. Germany has found that their system works best when they use a maximum of 18% renewables. All the talk of storage is completely outrageous and expensive. It is also extremely dangerous. Anyone remember the little problem Samsung had with its Note 8? Lithium batteries are very volatile and explosive.
Jim Gordon was not a visionary, he was merely a charlatan who saw a way to take huge amounts of government subsidies (Our Taxes) pocket a good part of it and use the rest to drain our bank accounts with lawsuits fighting him off. The biggest polluter of CO2 is not electricity generation, it is transportation and I have yet to see a viable solar or wind driven vehicle.
So please, let's look at this a a victory and if the subsidies dry up, there will be no more wind turbines and solar farms. That is what T. Boone Pickens and Warren Buffet, two very large energy investors have said; "If there are no subsidies (free money) wind and solar are a BAD investment."
I cant agree more that
A reader EdgartownI cant agree more that transportation and construction vehicles are prime polluters. Everyone would be heathier if all vehicles on land, sea and in the air were honestly revamped with air quality as the first priority.
Right on, and well said.
Albie Scott Santpoort Zuid, the NetherlandsRight on, and well said.
Americans have their heads in the sand. Couple that with the propaganda and out right lies and you have a country lagging well behind in the march to sustainable energy.
Just look at what is going on in Europe.
" It was bold from the start
Down Islander" It was bold from the start and fraught with all sorts of assaults from extremely well-healed opponents,"
Not really "bold." First, our whole political system runs on "well-heeled opponents." Thank heaven some of them stepped up to the plate to halt this terrible project. Its biggest problem was its subsidy-based business plan and the fact that it had no conservation component whatsoever, Furthermore, it didn't makes sense to feed this energy into the off-island grid and then sell it back to Islanders. It was a project for well-connected fat cats.
Going.........Going........
James Sullivan BarnstableGoing.........Going.........GONE!!!!!
Our country has to be the
Up Island Tuna ChilmarkOur country has to be the world leader in sheer stupidity of its energy policies. We have allowed the entire debate to be driven by people whose sole objective is to use the government to make them rich by subsidizing grossly uneconomic investments. It is preposterous to spend countless billions on subsidies for offshore wind turbines when we have vast untapped energy savings from conservation that would be far more cost effective and do more to mitigate global warming. The US has the highest per capita energy consumption of any developed economy. The problem is that no one can make billions of profits from conservation because it is inherently decentralized. So instead of creating tens of thousands of jobs fro improving the efficiency of houses, cars, and businesses, we pay billions to Chinese and Danish suppliers of wind turbines and the tax shelter promoters, lobbyists, and scam artists in the US who have figured out how to make the taxpayer gravy train run right to their doors.
At least the most appalling example in recent memory -- Cape Wind -- got stopped but it is a pyrrhic victory given all of the other projects that will go forward over the next few years.
U P Tuna, you are so right...
Lorraine EdgartownU P Tuna, you are so right....here is the sticking point: the average person will not take responsibility for his/her own use of our resources. They will not make sure the water does not run during tooth brushing, they will not turn off lights when vacating a room, or using modern technology to achieve same, they will run useless errands in automobiles rather than making a run which encompasses many things. Just drive through suburbs of cities and see the giant houses with lights on, numbers of family vehicles in the driveways, sprinklers running to keep lawns green, etc and etc and etc.....you get the picture. It is much easier to fall in line with muddy thinking and therefore not take individual responsibility. You make vital points in your comment.
Agree!
A reader EdgartownAgree!
Currently typing whilst
Margot Wales/MenemshaCurrently typing whilst surrounded by a wind farm: heavenly, beautiful...try it sometime before you comment.
It’s dead. And there are
Chip Coblyn OBIt’s dead. And there are better alternatives that will actually benefit MV, that also embrace the idea that you can build in deep water—out of sight—something Cape Wind insisted wasn’t feasible.
Continuous underwater noise.
Donna Russell Braddock Bay, Lake Ontario, NYContinuous underwater noise. Obstacles across migratory routes. How many Right Whales died this year? How many other unseen underwater animals died this year? Can't we just leave the seas alone and allow them to heal?
This thread of comments is
Robert Skydell ChilmarkThis thread of comments is particularly interesting in pointing out how certain individuals and groups use specious reasoning to impact opinion. Connecting the death of Right whales to the underwater noise of (nonexistent) offshore wind farms that have yet to be built while ignoring warming oceans (the death knell of corral reefs) or the affect of acid rain, or cautioning people about the Tesla battery just installed in South Australia because the Samsung 8 cellphone catches fire are prime examples of this. Certain people have consistently criticized renewable energy in these pages and elsewhere as not economically viable without huge government subsidies but somehow manage to exclude the fact that the fossil fuel industry receives massive subsidies and depletion allowances from the American taxpayers while continuing to make windfall profits. Those subsidies continue unchallenged while subsidies to emerging technologies are faced with near-term expiration dates. How curious ,I say.
Thank you, Robert Skydell,
Carol formerly ChilmarkThank you, Robert Skydell, for your excellent comment. Ship strikes and starvation (dramatically reduced food suuply due to ocean acidification due, in turn, to atmospheric carbon from burning fossil fuels) are what are killing whales. Want to save them? Put solar on your roof, make your next car pure electric, vote Democratic, insulate your house better. THOSE actions will help the oceans to heal.
"you fossil fuel people..."
Nancy Juno Beach FL"you fossil fuel people..." wow, I did not hear that from Helen at all.
We were spared from poorly considered corporate and political deal making. None of this would not have produced big jobs, big savings or even that much electricity. We can not trash our oceans to clean our air. I intend to continue supporting the Alliance in protecting our waters for years to come. Well done.
so finally the well heeled
Hal Edgartownso finally the well heeled folks who love wind power - but not in THEIR backyard have finally won. Good job Mr Cronkite
Ah yes, and right across the
Peter Becker Port Angeles, WashingtonAh yes, and right across the channel in the Elizabeth Islands at Cuttyhunk stood the first wind powered harbor in tha area... highly visible , though it was a Horizontal Wind turbine, and quite effective! However, one woman, the house sitter of a part time resident complained of the “Noise” it made... some “Squeak” that only she could hear!
Eventually she rabble roused enough opposition so that they took it down , early Regan period to date it approximately, and replaced it with a Diesel generator and given the then rising fuel prices, some sticker shock, but as an employee, not hers! They are still (last time I checked) on diesel.
My friend in Seattle who installed and maintained the wind turbine moved it elsewhere and it is still in quiet operation 30+ years later..my other friend, a power engineer with Emerson Electric also in Seattle, maintained the Diesel plant. They are in for More sticker shock... the diesel plants are only good for about 30 years and they are due for a new one!
And it will be much more than the first one. The house sitter is long gone.
Old Chinese aphorism: “Be careful what you wish for.”
All the old people on this
Dontrell VHAll the old people on this thread are way up past their bed time.
I never liked the belief our
PAUL D ADLER west tisburyI never liked the belief our energy rates would not have been lowered as a result of Cape Wind. I currently have two advanced Solar trackers and I net $1000 a month average with no bother to my neighborhood
Why so happy about the demise
MarieWhy so happy about the demise of the wind farm? Do you think that the future is filthy coal and oil?
Just because wind power is not perfect today does not mean that it will not be the best energy source in the future.
The computer that I bought last month is 20x more powerful than the one I bought 10 years ago - and it cost about 1/3 the price! Technology gets better. Look at your cell phones and your wifi connections. Wind and solar will only get better too.
Who wants a nuclear power plant on the island? Maybe they can deep drill for oil off the coast. RENEWABLES are the future.
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