Offshore Wind Power Fake News Exposed

The news media, politicians, and offshore wind contractors have long been incorrect in stating how much power comes from a wind turbine project. Mostly, it's called lying by omission. 

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The first question the public needs to ask is, how does a wind company spend over half a billion dollars on a project that still has not received all its permits? 

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Wind companies spend millions on advertising through the news media to promote the wind agenda. The news organizations are in business to make money. In many cases, state government news media reports the most current political agenda. Editors copy the state news or only allow reporters to generate puff news articles.

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Politicians require money to get elected and receive most of their revenue from campaign contributions. You pay, you win.

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Conservation groups, including scientists and researchers, also receive contributions. There is no conclusive evidence that offshore wind is killing whales? Look at the facts.

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Every group involved with offshore wind receives revenue, except the average Jill and Joe, who end up paying outrageous power bills in the future. 

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A wind turbine that produces, for example, 10 megawatts, according to news media reports, can power 6000 homes. The turbine has a 10-megawatt nameplate. The nameplate is the amount of energy the turbine can produce if it runs at 100 percent speed, just over 40 miles per hour. 

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In general, when the wind speed is below 6 miles per hour, even though the blades are spinning, the generator is not engaged, and the turbine is not powering any homes. As the wind speed increases to the maximum operating speed, the number of houses powered increases, but rarely produces the nameplate energy.

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When the wind speed in storms increases or there are sudden wind shifts, the brakes come on, and there are no homes powered. The turbines never generate maximum power 24 hours a day.

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In order to make up for the downtime of the turbines, large battery backup plants are built along the onshore cable route of the power, as well as high-voltage direct current converter stations. 

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The expense of the ocean wind turbine cables, battery backup, and high-voltage electric substations outweighs the original cost of the turbines themselves. This battery and substation expense is sometimes paid by the local utility company, which ultimately shifts the cost to ratepayers. 

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The news media leaves out that taxpayers have already paid to build the offshore wind ports for the foreign offshore wind companies. Large amounts are paid through renewable energy credits. If there were no renewable energy credits, offshore wind would be a losing financial project.

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The wind industry, politicians, and media leave out the parasitic power loss of every wind project. 

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Wind turbines are like any kind of power plant. They have heating, air conditioning, computers, lighting, and blade braking systems, and a battery backup system for when there is little wind. 

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When turbines are idle, they need power to charge their battery backup system. In some cases, the ocean wind turbines have diesel backup generators with fuel tanks inside the turbines. Another setup requires the onshore electric company to provide electricity to the offshore wind companies. In some cases, both methods are used. 

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The cost of parasitic power loss can reach up to 25 percent during periods of low wind speeds. A 10-megawatt wind turbine would lose enough energy to power 1500 homes. Maintenance, accidents, and repairs are never included in operating schemes, leading to additional losses.

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Parasitic loss also happens because of the distance between offshore wind turbines and the point of power use. It is well known that land-based wind turbines are usually located near where the power is consumed to reduce power line loss caused by distance.

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The whale deaths have followed offshore wind construction since the Block Island wind construction in 2016. 

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The alternative to offshore wind, small, safe modular reactors and/or natural gas plants provide electricity 24 hours a day. 

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The next time you read or hear a wind turbine story, the public needs to know how much your environmental organization, political group, or news organization received in revenue from offshore wind. 

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Now you know how a wind company can spend over a half billion and still not have all the permits.

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