Massachusetts Offshore Wind Reveals New Bedford Ocean Port Deficiencies

The vessel CABLE ENTERPRISE East Passage Newport Rhode Island  Octo...

Picture Credit: Frank Haggerty 

Massachusetts Offshore Wind Reveals New Bedford Ocean Port Deficiencies 
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The Massachusetts offshore cable installation started this week for an offshore wind company billed as the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the USA. 
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New Bedford, Massachusetts has been preparing for the offshore wind industry for the past several years building the first ocean wind turbine port.. The port is well over 135 million dollars and lacks a rail link and large walking cranes. In addition the hurricane gates only have an opening of 120 feet wide and the largest ship ever to enter the port was 80 feet wide.
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The New Bedford port was built for the failed Cape Wind project which had turbines around 3 megawatts. Today ocean wind turbines are over four times that size at 12 megawatts. The New Bedford port may well be antiquated before its time. 
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The first offshore wind cable ship named the "Cable Enterprise" came from the United Kingdom to lay cable off the coast of Massachusetts but moored in the Port of Providence, Rhode Island. The ship moored between October 21 and 29,2022 before heading out to sea. The East Passage off the coast of Newport to Providence or Quonset Point is 3000 feet wide. The ship overall length is 406 feet and 104 feet wide. 
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From the dimensions of the ship it is quite obvious why the ship did not moor in the Port of New Bedford. It does not fit. 
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The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center manages the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal also know as the Ocean Wind Port. The bond payments are $187,500 a month for 30 years. 

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Comment by Long Islander on November 16, 2022 at 3:04pm

U.S. offshore wind energy industry faces blowback from locals
https://apnews.com/article/business-new-jersey-wind-power-energy-in...

Comment by Willem Post on November 12, 2022 at 6:40am

DEEP-WATER FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES IN MAINE

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/deep-water-floating-off...

COST SHIFTING IS THE NAME OF THE GAME REGARDING WIND AND SOLAR

http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/cost-shifting-is-the-na...

GRID-SCALE BATTERY SYSTEMS IN NEW ENGLAND TO COUNTERACT SHORTFALL OF ONE-DAY WIND/SOLAR LULL

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/grid-scale-battery-sys...

AS GERMANY’s GREEN DREAM BECOMES A NIGHTMARE, ASIA AND RUSSIA POWER AHEAD WITH NUCLEAR POWER

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/as-germany-s-green-dre...

BIDEN 30,000 MW OFFSHORE WIND SYSTEMS BY 2030; AN EXPENSIVE FANTASY  

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/biden-30-000-mw-of-off...

Comment by Willem Post on November 12, 2022 at 6:34am

GRID-SCALE BATTERY SYSTEMS IN NEW ENGLAND TO COUNTERACT SHORTFALL OF ONE-DAY WIND/SOLAR LULL

Wind Systems Paired with Grid-Scale Battery Systems 

 

Grid-scale battery systems are increasingly paired with wind systems to reduce the adverse effects on grid stability, due to the variability of wind output, MW. During gusty wind conditions, the output of a wind system has large variations, which could adversely impact the stability of frequency and voltage of the grid.

 

For example, a utility, or grid operator, may require a 30 MW wind system have an output variability not exceeding 2 MW/min, up or down, to maintain grid voltage and frequency variations within prescribed ranges. See URL. 

 

The battery systems must be capable of charging and discharging to meet the utility-required ramp rates, while also not overheating the batteries.

 

Overheating would shorten the battery useful service life, and may cause fires, that burn at high temperatures and take a long time to extinguish.

 

NOTE: The same holds true regarding overheating of EV batteries, in case of 1) fast charging at a charging station, and 2) fast discharging during accelerating and going uphill, and 3) frequent “range driving”, such as make long trips every day, all of which would increase the likelihood of overheating/damage/fires, especially during hot summer days and cold winter days.

 

NOTE: This NREL report mentions above issues. NREL is a government, pro-wind entity, which tends to see wind through rosier glasses than private enterprise.

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/59003.pdf

 

Solar Systems Paired with Grid-Scale Battery Systems

 

Variable clouds are the main reason for rapid changes of solar output, in addition to the normal daily cycle. See image

Solar output may decrease by 60% within a few seconds, due to a cloud passing over solar systems.

 

The time taken for the cloud to pass is dependent upon cloud height, sun elevation and wind speed. 

These factors need to be considered regarding solar power output forecasting and integrating the variable output into the grid.

The graph shows solar output profiles for ZIP codes in California. The further north, the less solar.

 

For example, ZIP code 920 shows a downward spike from about 115 MW to 65 MW, or 50 MW in 10 seconds, or 300 MW/minute, at 1 pm, which would significantly affect frequency and voltage stability on the grid. 

 
For at least a decade, California has been mandating utilities to install grid-scale battery systems on their distribution systems. 
 
The costs of such battery systems are not charged to solar system owners to perpetuate the fantasy “solar is competitive with fossil”

 https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/large-scale-solar-plants-require-large-scale-battery-systems

 
 

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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