• So-called green energy wind farms are steadily becoming ever more dark

    Updated: 2024-05-31 14:49:15
    Sir, – In Orkney we were told that a wind farm due to produce electricity for our island for the next 25 years could be considered in environmental terms dark green. Consider the following, and over their working life decide what shade of green you now think they represent. • The making of the wind turbines in a foreign country using hydrocarbons and chemicals in the process; • Transporting them by sea and road from Europe to Orkney; • The . . .

  • New signs at Covell Beach let people know about Vineyard Wind cables buried under sand

    Updated: 2024-05-30 14:39:32
    The magnetic field is directly proportional to the current in the lines. With a GQ EMF390 electromagnetic field meter in hand, resident Tom Cambareri paced a section of Covell Beach on Wednesday morning, announcing readings as he went. The numbers he called out rose, crested and fell like the waves coming to shore nearby – indicators of his passage over the two transmission lines carrying power from the Vineyard Wind 1 wind farm, buried under the beach. “The signal is a . . .

  • Seacoast fishermen say they don’t support wind turbines in Gulf of Maine

    Updated: 2024-05-30 13:08:22
    A federal group wants to put wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine, but some Seacoast fishermen said they don’t want them. On Wednesday night, several fishermen said they can’t get on board with the idea of wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine, but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said they’re trying to be as safe as possible with this potential project. The proposal would allow the state of Maine to build 12 floating turbines about 30 miles . . .

  • Washington clean energy project mired in ‘no man’s land’ amid planning setbacks

    Updated: 2024-05-30 13:06:16
    The Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center generating wind and solar energy south of the Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington was expected to begin construction in 2021. Three years later, the project is still in the planning phase, with Gov. Jay Inslee most recently sending the proposed site certification agreement back to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council for reconsideration. Meanwhile, the process has drawn concern from local officials for its potential impact to natural resources in addition to what some perceive . . .

  • Otay Mesa battery facility fire could take weeks to put out entirely

    Updated: 2024-05-29 14:06:37
    A stubborn fire at a battery storage site in Otay Mesa is burning for a sixth day. Fire officials are preparing for it to potentially take weeks to put out. “We’re not sure. We’re preparing for the worst and making plans to be here for a long time, two to four weeks and will reevaluate then,” said Captain Brent Pascua with Cal Fire San Diego. The fire began last Wednesday at the Gateway Energy Storage facility and flare-ups over the . . .

  • N.J. will get $125M of the $300M set aside for offshore wind project cancellations

    Updated: 2024-05-29 13:12:20
    After previusly saying he would “fight like hell”, Governor Phil Murphy is pleased, moves up new bidding. New Jersey will receive $125 million from Ørsted – as opposed to the $300 million it was originally slated to get – after settling with the Danish developer that backed out on its plans for two offshore wind farms. State officials paired the agreement announcement Tuesday afternoon with news it would accelerate the window for more developers to bid for offshore wind projects to come . . .

  • Peat slide near wind farm ‘caused permanent environmental damage’

    Updated: 2024-05-28 17:55:33
    A peat slide at a site close to one of the UK’s largest onshore wind farms has caused permanent environmental damage, experts have said. Video showed tonnes of peat and stone sliding down a grassy hillside at speed near to the Viking Energy wind farm on Shetland this month. The incident led to work being suspended on the development site, which will feature 103 turbines and is due to become operational this year. Dave Petley, an expert in geological hazards . . .

  • Offshore wind farm fined $42m after regulator probes excessive power prices

    Updated: 2024-05-28 16:56:43
    UK energy regulator Ofgem has fined an offshore wind farm £33.1m ($42.3m) for charging excessive prices while curtailing output to balance the grid. Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL), operator of the 588MW project of the same name off Scotland, will pay the money into the regulator’s redress fund for consumers after accepting it breached one of its licence conditions, Ofgem said. The regulator said BOWL’s “prices did not properly reflect the financial benefits of reducing its output related to avoided . . .

  • Brock Environmental Center wind turbine catches fire after lightning strike

    Updated: 2024-05-28 14:01:16
    A wind turbine at the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach caught fire Monday after being struck by lightning, according to the Virginia Beach Fire Department. Pictures shared with News 3, taken from the Dockside restaurant on Shore Drive, show one of the center’s turbines on fire with a trail of heavy smoke coming from it. When VBFD’s crew arrived, there were no flames, but smoke was coming from the wind turbine, fire officials say. Fire officials confirmed that the . . .

  • Belgium objects to 600MW Dunkirk offshore project

    Updated: 2024-05-28 13:57:11
    The Belgian government has formally objected to EDF Renewables and Enbridge’s 600MW Dunkirk wind farm off north-east France. Belgium’s North Sea and Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (pictured) has lodged opposition to the scheme during the public debate on the project, which started last month and runs to June. The country and several local authorities have opposed the location of the project, which runs close to the sea border with Belgium, since 2016, including legal actions and filing complaints with . . .

  • Shetland peat slide was an ominous warning

    Updated: 2024-05-27 15:16:53
    A massive peat slide took place in Shetland at the start of this month. A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) confirmed that the slip happened “in an area of hillside between Upper Kergord and the B9075, where work on our Kergord to Gremista Connection Project is taking place”. SSEN has stated that the site has been closed while safety checks are carried out. There is little doubt that the catastrophic slide, which luckily caused no casualties, resulted . . .

  • An ill wind blows

    Updated: 2024-05-27 14:35:36
    As a resident of Eddy County, I have some concerns on the new wind farm being planned. I was told by a PRC Wind (project manager of the wind farm) representative that it has gotten larger. Are you sure you will not be surrounded with these towers? What about phase 2 or 3? This wind farm will not only change the view of the landscape, what will happen to ur property values and taxes? Will our property resale values go . . .

  • Wind farm opponents vow to “stay in the fight”

    Updated: 2024-05-26 16:42:33
    Opponents of offshore wind energy farms warned during a rally Saturday in Ocean City that the legal battle is far from over in their efforts to prevent what they called the “industrialization of our ocean.” Last year, the Danish energy company Orsted scrapped plans to build two wind farms off the South Jersey coast after concluding that the projects would not be worth the enormous development cost. However, opponents stressed during the rally that Orsted still holds the leases giving . . .

  • An Bord Pleanála refuses permission for three windfarms

    Updated: 2024-05-24 20:42:18
    An Bord Pleanála has issued three refusals for contentious plans for wind farms for Co Donegal, Co Clare and Co Cork having a combined 33 wind turbines. The projects refused planning permission include high profile plans by Wingleaf Ltd for seven turbines with a tip height of 585 feet overlooking the Gougane Barra beauty spot in west Cork. One of the opponents of the scheme was Fáilte Ireland which requested that the application be refused planning permission. The decision marks . . .

  • Massive wind farm proposal in Washington state gets new life from Gov. Jay Inslee

    Updated: 2024-05-24 00:12:24
    Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday rejected a recommendation to cut a proposal for what would be the state’s largest wind farm in half, giving new life to the $1.7 billion project. Plans for the Horse Heaven wind farm originally included up to 222 wind turbines across 24 miles (38.6 kilometers) of hillsides in the Tri-Cities area of eastern Washington, plus three solar arrays covering up to 8.5 square miles (22 square kilometers). But last month, Washington’s seven-person Energy Facility . . .

  • Ten Vestas turbines destroyed as deadly tornadoes hit US wind farms

    Updated: 2024-05-23 13:15:43
    Wind farms in the Midwestern US state of Iowa took direct hits from a spate of tornadoes, destroying at least six turbines owned by utility MidAmerican Energy and several others. Five wind turbines at MidAmerican’s Orient wind farm and one at its Arbor Hill wind farm, were impacted. Four more at the Prescott wind farm, owned by RPM Access, were also destroyed by tornadoes that swept through the region around 4pm local time on Tuesday. MidAmerican’s wind farms are in . . .

  • Wind towers crumpled after Iowa wind farm suffers rare direct hit from powerful twister

    Updated: 2024-05-23 00:36:06
    A wind farm in southwest Iowa suffered a direct hit from a powerful tornado that crumpled five of the massive, power-producing towers, including one that burst into flames. But experts say fortunately such incidents are rare. Video of the direct hit on the wind farm near Greenfield, Iowa, showed frightening images of the violent twister ripping through the countryside, uprooting trees, damaging buildings and sending dirt and debris high into the air. Several of the turbines at MidAmerican Energy Company’s . . .

  • Wind turbines can jam weather radar

    Updated: 2024-05-23 00:06:30
    By now, I’m sure you’re all aware of the devastating tornado that tore through Adams County yesterday, destroying multiple wind turbines, carrying blades and other turbine debris hundreds of feet into the air, and causing at least one turbine to catch fire and burn. Witnesses have stated turbine blades and debris were strewn across a large area. The real tragedy, of course, was that multiple people in Greenfield lost their lives in this tornado. I’m sure all of you will . . .

  • Tornado destroys wind turbines in Adams County

    Updated: 2024-05-22 16:10:35
    A tornado swept through a wind turbine field in Adams County, Iowa during yesterday’s severe weather outbreak, destroying multiple wind turbines. At least three turbines were destroyed. At least one of those turbines caught fire and burned after being blown over. Witnesses said the turbine towers snapped like twigs and there are blades and debris strewn across a large area. Our hearts and prayers go out to the multiple people who lost their lives and their loved ones in Greenfield . . .

  • Seabed ‘geohazard’ glauconite adds crushing risk to giant US offshore wind farm plans

    Updated: 2024-05-21 13:10:40
    Part of Iberdrola-controlled Avangrid’s uncontracted 2.2GW New England Wind project could face added construction risk from a little-known seabed mineral glauconite that can interfere with and even prevent monopile foundation installation, the developer confirmed to Recharge. Glauconite is a green-coloured mineral in the mica group found in seabed strata throughout the Northeast Atlantic coastline that has been identified as “a potential geohazard” by US federal offshore energy regulator Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). “Glauconite’s susceptibility to crushing can result . . .

  • ‘Voiceless’ residents in whisky country rage against wind farm

    Updated: 2024-05-19 19:33:10
    Two of Scotland’s richest men are on opposite sides of a row over the future of the Cabrach. They have “the energy to change your world”, boast the developers behind one of the UK’s largest onshore wind farms, but in the beautiful corner of the Grampian mountains where the huge turbines will be sited, no one is dancing in the country roads by way of celebration. This is the Cabrach, a breathtaking swathe of moorland north of the Cairngorms, where . . .

  • Company taking stock over future of Armadale wind farm plan

    Updated: 2024-05-19 19:28:43
    Brookfield Renewable have not lost interest in going ahead with a wind farm in the north Sutherland village of Armadale. The Canadian-based green energy corporation earlier this month dropped its bid to win planning consent to build nine turbines there. But it has told the local protest group that it is now taking stock “to consider how a development at the site can best serve the community.” Brookfield initially proposed a 23 turbine development which it subsequently downsized, first to . . .

  • Locals celebrate as planning refused for Cork’s biggest ever wind farm at Gougane Barra

    Updated: 2024-05-16 00:51:36
    ‘We feel that Justice has been done, common sense prevails, and democracy restored in this situation.’ Locals are celebrating as plans for the largest wind farm ever proposed for Cork is to be refused permission. An Bord Pleanála has indicated it is refusing permission for a controversial wind farm proposal at Gougane Barra, on grounds that it would “seriously injure” the scenery. An Bord Pleanála originally permitted the €30m project in February 2022. The Wingleaf Ltd development was to include . . .

  • Councillors lodge opposition to wind farm development near Belclare with An Bord Pleanála

    Updated: 2024-05-16 00:46:24
    Tuam area councillors have officially voiced their opposition to a significant wind farm development near Belclare. An Bord Pleanála is currently assessing an application for 8 turbines at Laurclavagh and adjacent townlands. The council are obliged to make a submission, and councillors had the option to attach recommendations to the official submission. At the suggestion of Cathaoirleach Donagh Killilea, they agreed to make a joint submission, which will now be sent to An Bord Pleanála. Councillor Killilea told our reporter . . .

  • DeSantis signs Florida bill banning offshore wind turbines

    Updated: 2024-05-16 00:37:58
    Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation [HB 1645] signed Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy coastline. Critics said the measure made law by the former Republican presidential hopeful ignores their warnings of climate change threats in Florida, including projections of rising seas, extreme heat and flooding and increasingly severe storms. It takes effect July 1 and would . . .

  • No evidence wind farms cause deformities in foals?

    Updated: 2024-05-15 00:52:59
    An AFP Fact Check by Gwen Roley of AFP Canada [link], “No evidence wind farms cause deformities in foals” (10 April 2024), cites, “The consensus among faculty and staff members spoken to at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) is that there is no scientific basis to wind turbines causing deformities in horses.” But the Portuguese study directly addressed that: “To investigate a possible genetic cause, two foals from distinct bloodlines were brought to the stud. These . . .

  • Enefit Green sues wind turbine maker over Lithuanian wind farm shut down

    Updated: 2024-05-12 16:14:37
    Enefit Green is claiming damages from General Electric, one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, and insurance company Compensa for the closure of the Akmene wind farm in Lithuania. Kadri Korsten, a spokesperson for Enefit Green, told the daily Postimees that the company is not disclosing the amount of the claim at this time. According to Postimees’ own calculations, Enefit Green may have suffered losses of around €12.6 million. In May last year, Enefit Green’s 75-megawatt Akmene wind farm . . .

  • Armadale residents celebrate as wind farm bid is withdrawn

    Updated: 2024-05-12 16:10:52
    Anti-wind farm campaigners are celebrating after the scrapping of plans to develop a nine-turbine scheme on the north Sutherland coast. Armadale Windfarm Action Group (AWAG) hailed the move as “a victory for local democracy”. At the same time, its members are anxiously awaiting to learn if it marks the end of Brookfield Renewable’s interest in the small crofting township, 26 miles west of Thurso. The 150-metre high turbines were earmarked to go up on a tract of hill land and . . .

  • Tragic electrocution at windmill farm claims life, Willacy County investigates

    Updated: 2024-05-11 19:09:24
    Tragic Electrocution at Willacy County Windmill Farm A routine day at a windmill farm located at the intersection of FM 1018 and FM 507 turned tragic when a man was fatally electrocuted in what has been described as a workplace incident by the Willacy County Sheriff’s Office. The incident has left the local community in shock and raised concerns over workplace safety in such environments. Details of the Incident Early this morning, Willacy County EMS and Bonneville fire crews were . . .

  • Repairs to P.E.I. wind farm cost $15 million in last several years; More work necessary

    Updated: 2024-05-11 00:42:48
    Most of the 10 wind turbines at the Hermanville wind farm are working again following $15 million in repairs during the past several months, says the CEO of the P.E.I. Energy Corporation. Tyson Bradley said additional money was spent on purchasing parts for the turbines at the wind farm, which is located north of Souris. “The work (on the remaining turbines) is actually starting right after the long weekend, so we’re spending money to get up to full speed, (but) . . .

  • ‘Wake effect’ could drain 38% of offshore wind power, study says

    Updated: 2024-05-10 20:49:10
    Wind turbines off the East Coast might significantly drain energy from each other, lowering the power output of an offshore farm by up to 38 percent, according to a new study that challenges early assumptions about the nascent industry’s electricity contribution. The findings add to growing research about the “wake effect,” which is when offshore turbines in close proximity affect each other’s energy output. Researchers from the University of Colorado and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that entire . . .

  • More than 1 million trees cut down for wind turbines last year, 17 million over 24 years

    Updated: 2024-05-10 13:12:52
    A Scottish Government quango has commissioned the destruction of more than 17 million trees in the last 24 years in order to build wind farms on public land. The Scottish Government has been blasted after it was revealed that more than one million trees have been chopped down on publicly owned land in just a year to make way for wind farms. This mass cutting down of trees came despite the SNP and Scottish Greens claiming environmental credentials. Communities in . . .

  • SSE stops work after landslide near windfarm site

    Updated: 2024-05-09 00:20:43
    SSE has announced all site work has been halted following a landslide between Upper Kergord and the B9075 road. Footage appeared online of a landslide near the Viking Energy wind farm construction site on Tuesday night. The incident took place yesterday (Tuesday) with drone footage of the landslide being captured by Gary Buchan. “On Tuesday afternoon our site team reported a peat slip in an area of hillside between Upper Kergord and the B9075, where work on our Kergord to . . .

  • Finland rejects offshore wind licences

    Updated: 2024-05-08 17:01:29
    The Finnish government has issued a negative decision on 16 applications for exploitation rights concerning offshore wind power in the exclusive economic zone. Many of the areas located in the Gulf of Bothnia overlap each other, the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment said. The decision does not prohibit the development of offshore wind projects in the sea areas concerned, it added. The government’s justification for refusing the applications for exploitation rights include its objective to “create a predictable, . . .

  • Fylde Coast wind farm plans could tear through businesses, land and affect schools, objectors say

    Updated: 2024-05-06 14:24:44
    Across the Fylde Coast, residents, business owners and farmers are uniting on one very contentious issue. Two offshore wind farms are set to be positioned in the Irish Sea, with a series of cables connecting them to an existing electricity substation in Penwortham. Whilst the idea is good in theory, to build on green energy, the idea in action is a very different matter. Residents of the Fylde are strongly opposing the plans, dubbed the Morgan and Morecambe Offshore Wind . . .

  • Aparatoso incendio de un aerogenerador en Peralta [wind turbine fire]

    Updated: 2024-05-06 00:44:38
    El motor de un aerogenerador del Parque Eólico Caluengo, situado junto a la carretera NA-115 en el término municipal de Peralta/Azkoien, ha ardido este domingo por la tarde. Intervenimos la tarde del #domingo para extinguir un incendio en un aerogenerador de un parque eólico en #Peralta#ParquePeralta#PolicíaLocal@NavarraGC pic.twitter.com/PZCzgGnrRQ — Bomberos y Bomberas – Suhiltzaileak (@bomberos_na) May 5, 2024 El incendio se ha registrado a las 16:35 horas en el motor de un molino en la zona de los altos de Peralta. . . .

  • Windpark Hainhaus: Windkraftanlage verliert Bauteile -sofortige Stilllegung erfolgt-

    Updated: 2024-05-05 20:26:07
    [Pieces of wind turbine fall off while blades continue to turn] Am späten Sonntagvormittag (05.05.), 11.20 Uhr, meldeten Spaziergänger verdächtige Geräusche und Beobachtungen an einer sich noch drehenden Windkraftanlage im Bereich Windpark Hainhaus/ Bad-König-Kimbach. Weiterhin lagen auch schon größere Bauteile unterhalb der Anlage auf dem Boden und angrenzenden Waldbereich. Durch sofort entsandte Einsatzkräfte von Polizei und Feuerwehr wurden die angrenzenden Waldwege und auch die Landesstraße 3349 gesperrt. Da sich die Windkraftanlage zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch in Betrieb befand und ganz . . .

  • Energy giant pays off fisherman blocking Wicklow wind farm

    Updated: 2024-05-05 00:35:34
    A fisherman from Co Wicklow has settled with an offshore wind developer in a landmark case expected to send waves through a renewable energy ­industry grappling with mounting legal challenges. Last May, Ivan Toole, whose fishing company operates out of Greystones, brought a judicial review on environmental grounds against the minister of state with responsibility for planning and local government over the granting of a foreshore licence to RWE, a German energy group and notice party in the case. The . . .

  • Wind turbine crashes down in Schuyler County

    Updated: 2024-05-04 14:19:31
    A wind turbine came crashing down in Schuyler County late last week. It happened Friday night on Fairview Drive off County Route J in Queen City. It was part of Ameren’s wind farm along Highway 63 that was installed in 2021. Several viewers messaged KTVO with pictures, saying they could see the tower without its face or blades from the highway. KTVO reached out to Ameren for more information on what happened. In an email, they responded: “Ameren Missouri enacted . . .

  • Three groups are suing N.J. to block an offshore wind farm

    Updated: 2024-05-04 13:48:57
    Three anti–wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ filed suit in appellate court on April 26 challenging a determination by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that the Atlantic Shores wind farm project meets the requirements of a federal coastal protection law. Atlantic Shores is one of three . . .

  • TransAlta scraps wind farm project as energy market changes loom for Alberta

    Updated: 2024-05-04 13:24:23
    TransAlta, one of Alberta’s largest power generators, has cancelled a proposed wind farm development and is putting a hold on three other power projects, citing provincial rule changes and a lack of certainty in the market. In February, Alberta’s government announced new rules on the development of renewable power in the province. They imposed a new 35-kilometre buffer zone around areas deemed “pristine viewscapes.” Calgary-based TransAlta said those rules, coupled with a lack of clarity around the future of renewable . . .

  • Schoharie County towns file lawsuit against N.Y. over solar, wind farm tax methods

    Updated: 2024-05-04 13:15:12
    More than a dozen towns in Schoharie County are suing the state of New York, claiming they’re not only being low-balled by the state’s method of taxing solar and wind projects, but that the new rules are unconstitutional. In 2021, the state established new rules requiring solar and wind farms that generate over one megawatt of electricity be assessed using a model formula. However, the town supervisors, listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, contend that local assessors have the “ultimate . . .

  • The intermittency of wind and solar power could be worse than originally thought, experts say

    Updated: 2024-05-03 16:31:52
    “Wind droughts can happen at any time and are fairly common.” Last month, multiple news outlets reported on the record-smashing year the wind industry had in 2023. The Global Wind Energy Council released its latest report showing the world installed 117 gigawatts of capacity. The Associated Press called 2023 a “record year for wind installations,” and Reuters noted that the U.S. was among the top five markets for wind installations. The U.S. Energy Information Administration released a report this week . . .

  • 14 Stark County townships want large solar, wind farms prohibited

    Updated: 2024-05-03 14:24:17
    Fourteen of Stark County’s 17 townships want large wind and solar farms banned from their communities. Canton, Jackson, Lake, Lawrence, Lexington, Nimishillen, Osnaburg, Paris, Pike, Plain, Sugar Creek, Tuscarawas and Washington townships requested the county commissioners vote to prohibit large solar facilities and large wind farms of 50 megawatts or more, as well as economically significant wind farms between five and 50 megawatts. Marlboro Township asked to commissioners to prohibit large solar facilities and large wind farms but did not . . .

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Apr 2024 | Mar 2024 | Feb 2024 | Jan 2024 | Dec 2023 | Nov 2023