From Reuters 12.5.23
US wind power generation on course to surpass coal
U.S. electricity generation from wind power is on course to surpass coal-fired electricity generation, potentially by 2026, as wind supply growth expands at a record pace just as coal-fired generation is cut across the country.
Coal-fired power remains the second largest source of U.S. electricity behind natural gas, and over the first 10 months of 2023 coal-fired output was roughly 60% greater than total generation from wind sources, data from think tank Ember shows.
But with wind power generation rapidly rising in most regions while utilities steadily cut coal capacity, wind output is on track to eventually overtake coal output within the U.S. electricity generation mix, which will mark a significant milestone in U.S. energy transition efforts.
www.reuters.com/…
From the Associated Press 12.7.23
Decades after Europe, turning blades send first commercial offshore wind power onto US grid
Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore windpower has hit a milestone. An 800-foot tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country’s first.
The moment is years in the making and at the same time a modest advance in what experts say needs to be a major buildout of this type of clean electricity to address climate change.
Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced Wednesday the first electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. It will be New York’s first offshore wind farm.
apnews.com/…
From Inside Climate News 12.8.23
Only Permitted Great Lakes Offshore Wind Farm Put on Hold
On Dec. 8, after 14 years of small victories and larger setbacks, the remnants of the company behind Icebreaker Wind announced the indefinite suspension of what was once set to be the first offshore wind farm built in the Great Lakes.
The decision by the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) to “temporarily halt” the project came as little surprise to those who had been following it. Icebreaker was the only project of its kind to come close to fruition. But it had barely survived a stream of legal disputes and permitting delays that put it many years behind schedule, and was still nowhere near having turbines in the water.
One of the biggest sources of concern over the years was the possibility that the U.S. Department of Energy, unsatisfied with LEEDCo’s halting progress, would revoke the $50 million in federal funding that kept the nonprofit’s sole project viable. In the end, that’s what happened.
insideclimatenews.org/...
