Well, this is strange, because I’ve been reliably told that green energy has gotten super inexpensive
Vattenfall halts project, warns UK offshore wind targets in doubt
Swedish utility Vattenfall (VATN.UL) said on Thursday it would stop development of its British Norfolk Boreas offshore wind project due to rising costs, and warned that Britain could struggle to meet its wind targets without improved incentives.
The 1.4 gigawatt (GW) project, which was scheduled to begin producing electricity in the late 2020s, was part of Britain’s plans to grow its offshore wind capacity to 50 GW by 2030 from around 14 GW now, to help meet its climate targets and boost energy security.
It could have provided electricity for around 1.5 million homes.
“Higher inflation and capital costs are affecting the entire energy sector, but the geopolitical situation has made offshore wind and its supply chain particularly vulnerable,” Vattenfall President and CEO Anna Borg said in a statement.
She said overall costs had increased by around 40% and that development of the project in its current form would be halted.
Of course, they, and others, are looking for government bailouts
Since the auction, called round 4, other developers including Orsted have called for targeted help for the sector, though they expect their projects to go ahead.
Vattenfall also said it would examine the best way forward for the entire Norfolk zone which also includes the Vanguard East and West projects.
They signed contracts. Of course, since they are government contracts, there are always ways to get government to pony up more of the taxpayers money.
Meanwhile in New Jersey
A tangle of litigation could delay the start of New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy project, as developer Orsted is suing governments to stop delaying necessary permits, and citizens groups try to halt the project altogether.
The latest in a fast-growing thicket of litigation came July 3 when Danish wind power developer Orsted sued Cape May County, alleging the government is dragging its feet in issuing a road permit needed to do test work along the route a power cable would run.
The company is also suing the city of Ocean City over similar delays to the project, which the federal government has endorsed as a significant piece in the White House’s efforts to “jump-start the offshore wind industry across the country,” in order to tackle the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Could it be that the citizens of these areas do not want these massive turbines off their coasts? Did anyone ask them? Or did the state and feds decide to jam this on them? Hey, why aren’t they building wind turbines down in Delaware in sight of Biden’s house?
Last month, three citizens groups opposed to offshore wind — Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ — filed an appeal of New Jersey’s determination that the Ocean Wind I project is consistent with state coastal management rules.
And one of those groups, Save Long Beach Island, is also suing a federal agency, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, over its creation of offshore wind lease sites off the coast of New Jersey.
They’re forcing citizens to deal with this. Why aren’t the projects near the rich folks areas?
[…] Bummer: UK Wind Turbine Project Halted Over Expense […]
Its very rare to cancel a government project due to cost overruns. The whole point of government projects like this is to spend the money.