Northeast wind projects notch a win, despite industry struggles
| NEW BEDFORD, Mass.
The long slender blades, like the claws of a giant wolverine, are stacked in the port of New Bedford, ready to be barged out to sea and assembled onto turbines that believers say will help power America鈥檚 future.聽
At 11:52 p.m. on Jan. 2, the first of what will be 62 wind turbines in the Vineyard Wind project off Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, Massachusetts,聽began sending electricity ashore. This and South Fork Wind, a smaller project off Long Island, New York,聽that cranked up its first turbines Dec. 6, are the first commercial-scale offshore wind power farms to begin operations in聽the聽waters聽of the United States.聽
鈥淚 felt a lot of weight come off my shoulders,鈥� says Klaus M酶eller, the CEO of Vineyard Wind, who was monitoring the startup while in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the holidays.聽鈥淲e鈥檝e had a ton of important steps, but when you do send electrons to the cable, that鈥檚 when you know the whole thing is working.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onThe first major offshore wind farms in U.S. waters have begun to generate power. It鈥檚 providing a sign of hope at a time of uncertainty for the industry.
When Mr.聽M酶eller聽got the news, he ordered cake for all the Vineyard Wind offices 鈥� a company tradition.聽But he also says bluntly, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of work ahead.鈥�
Indeed, the task before the offshore wind industry is daunting, and many companies are stumbling. President聽Joe聽Biden and many East Coast states are counting on a massive and hurried expansion of offshore wind power. But just as the first electricity begins flowing, major companies have canceled some projects and put others on hold.
South Fork鈥檚 milestone was overshadowed by the company鈥檚 decision to cancel plans for two other large wind farms聽off New Jersey. Other developers have pulled out of three projects in New England.聽
They say the costs of聽credit, parts, and construction have swollen so much聽that聽the projects would be money-losers under the contracts they made years ago while awaiting government approval. And the abrupt upsurge of demand for wind turbines after Russia cut off natural gas to Europe has left the supply cupboard bare.聽
鈥淒evelopers have to go to manufacturers and say, 鈥楥an we please, please, please buy your turbines?鈥欌�� says聽Mr.聽M酶eller.聽
Jim Gordon knows the obstacles. Sitting in his Boston office 60 miles north of the聽New Bedford cranes that load turbine parts onto barges, Mr.聽Gordon ponders his dashed dreams of being the company with the first big U.S. wind farm. He spent 14 years fighting to create the Cape Wind project off Martha鈥檚 Vineyard.聽He聽spent more than $80 million and beat back, by his count, 26 court cases and regulatory challenges.
鈥淲e proposed the first U.S. offshore project in 2001, and now the first projects are finally coming to fruition,鈥� he says of the Vineyard and South Fork projects. His offices are lined with photos of past and current energy projects, including his latest: Smartflower, a self-folding 16-foot-diameter solar dish that can stand on a lawn and track the sun to help power a home.聽
At the century鈥檚 turn, Mr. Gordon had proposed a $2 billion wind farm with 130 turbines between Cape Cod and Martha鈥檚 Vineyard. He faced a barrage of legal and regulatory challenges from powerful neighbors who did not want the turbines within their sight.
鈥淲e had聽a聽very sophisticated opposition group that knew all the tricks of the trade, and spent millions opposing us,鈥� Gordon says. He won all legal fights, but the clock ran out on his contracts.聽鈥淚t was such a toxic mix of politics and NIMBY-ism and the fossil fuel interests.鈥澛�
Mr. Gordon聽insists he is 鈥渄elighted,鈥� if a little envious, at the start of Vineyard and South Fork wind farms. 鈥淚 hope there will be 500 more.鈥�
The Biden administration agrees. President Biden has proposed that 80% of the country鈥檚 electricity be generated from renewable sources in seven years, and 100% by 2035. That massive scale-up is crucial for America to quit the fossil fuel addiction bringing聽more extreme聽floods, droughts, and heat waves to an alarmingly hotter world, his administration contends.聽
Few analysts think the timetable is achievable. The administration鈥檚 plan sets a goal of generating 30 gigawatts from offshore wind by 2030. That would require more than 2,000 turbines in the water. As of two months ago, there were seven. The Vineyard and South Fork projects will bring the total to 81.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 confident that goal will not be met,鈥澛爏ays聽engineering professor Christopher Niezrecki, director of the Center for Energy Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He co-authored a recent report looking at the 鈥渄aunting鈥� wind power needs of his state.聽
He cites challenges beyond聽the higher costs cited by the companies: yearslong regulatory reviews, little U.S. manufacturing of components, needed overhauls of the nation鈥檚 electric grid, few available installation ships and docks, and shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.聽Atop all this comes聽opposition from powerful fossil fuel companies, which Dr.聽Niezrecki says聽are聽underwriting a 鈥渓ot of misinformation in the news about the dangers of wind energy causing cancer or killing birds and things like that.鈥�
But he also notes, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a ton of offshore wind that鈥檚 being planned now. Are they going to come online? The answer is yes, they eventually will. The question is the timeline.鈥澛�
鈥淚t鈥檚 very unfortunate that this confluence of factors has disrupted the momentum,鈥� says Anne Reynolds, the incoming vice president of the American Clean Power Association, which lobbies for renewable energy. 鈥淏ut I do think in short order, we will regain the momentum and growth trajectory.鈥�
Replacing聽fossil fuels in the U.S.聽will聽require all available sources, and they must be diversified, say analysts. No single renewable energy source will be聽a lone聽鈥渨inner.鈥澛�
Giant turbines off the East Coast can pump huge amounts of power with great consistency to nearby communities, but they are expensive to build. Solar power can be generated at small scale on rooftops nearly anywhere, but it needs the sun and large amounts of space for big projects. Onshore wind turbines work well in the windy West, but they face opposition from potential neighbors and falter when the wind dies. Hydro,聽geothermal, and聽nuclear power聽have their merits but also limitations or risks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of an all-of-the-above strategy if we鈥檙e to address the threat of climate change,鈥� says Fred Zalcman, director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, a coalition of wind developers, environmentalists, and organized labor.聽
鈥淚f we could do it all with rooftop solar, then I鈥檇 say, 鈥極K, let鈥檚 do that.鈥� But we can鈥檛,鈥� adds Ms. Reynolds. 鈥淭here comes a point in the process where we say we need offshore wind to get there.鈥�
Despite the recent concerns, some say investment in offshore wind could accelerate quickly based on the prospect of and abundant聽jobs.
鈥淪outh Fork Wind will power thousands of homes, create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate to all that offshore wind is a viable resource,鈥� proclaimed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, alongside other officials in East Hampton last month as the switch on that project was turned on.
The next day, Mr. Zalcman boarded a boat to see the South Fork turbines in the water. The hourslong trip was worth it, he says.聽
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to describe it other than, you know, just being an awesome sight,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ammoth structures that are nearly the height of the Empire State Building, and the turbines turning ... the industry [is] actually starting to materialize.鈥�
