Offshore wind turbines exceed 1000 ft. in total height.
Many lease areas are owned by foreign wind companies, foreign pension plans and global investment firms.
East Coast Projects
• Vineyard Wind: jointly owned by a Danish infrastructure company and a Spanish utility.
• Revolution Wind: partially owned by a Danish multinational energy company
• Empire Wind: owned by Equinor Wind, a Norwegian company
West Coast Projects:
• Equinor/Atlas Wind: Norwegian company, partially owned by British Petroleum
• Golden State/Central California Offshore Wind: Canadian Pension Plan, Portuguese & French utility companies
• Invenergy/Even Keel Wind: major investor international firm Blackstone
Different types of offshore wind turbines:
• monopile (fixed bottom, to 60 meters depth)
• 4-legged jacket (fixed bottom, to 60 meters depth)
• tension leg platform (floating)
• spar buoy (floating)
• semi-submersible (floating)
Most wind lease areas are in the worst possible locations.
• On major cetacean migration routes
• Over prime fishing grounds and lobster/shellfish beds
• In world-renowned diverse marine ecosystems
• On nationally and internationally important migratory bird flyways
Survey vessels use multiple SONAR technologies to survey the ocean floor.
• High-resolution geophysical (HRG) surveys use high decibel levels to “picture” the seafloor.
• None of the permitting agencies require monitoring or verification of decibel levels or frequencies used.
• Sound travels underwater 4 times faster and farther, increasing impacts to wildlife.
HRG surveys have negative impacts in both nearshore (state) and offshore (federal) waters.
Lethal impacts to marine life from hrg site surveys in both lease site & cable route areas
• Up to 240 decibels allowed by California Coastal Commission for use by wind energy companies.
• 160 decibels causes: swim bladder expansion damaging surrounding organs and internal bleeding; gas emboli (bubbles) and hearing cell damage; disorientation, altering of feeding, mating and migration habits.
• Over 207 decibels kills fish, including Atlantic cod, salmon and tuna
• Over 217 decibels kills larvae and phytoplankton, the base of the food chain and crucial to marine ecosystem survival.
HRG site surveys using high decibels cause significant behavior changes.
• Affects hearing, resulting in susceptibility to vessel strike and entanglement
• Displacement from migratory routes
• Breeding behavior changes
• Disruption of communication
• Disruption of feeding
• A deaf whale is a dead whale
Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) are being granted to offshore wind companies. IHAs allow harassment levels that can lead to mortality.
Rutgers Professor Emeritus Dr. Apostolos Gerasoulis statistically links offshore wind traffic to dead whales on the east coast. [link]
How offshore wind works
• Cables are laid in trenches dug between turbines, to offshore substation and to onshore substation
• Vulnerable to damage from the ocean environment
• Whale entanglement likely in wind areas
• Electromagnetic field (EMF) and heat emissions
Cable concerns
• Exposure to EMF from operational cables affects marine species: migration, breeding, feeding
• Studies show low-level EMFs negatively impact humans
• Cable exposure and cable failure have negative impacts on marine environments
• Destruction of bottom habitat due to “jet plow” trenching
• Severe impacts on onshore/beach habitat severely by cable landings
Industrial ports are planned to be built in all coastal areas adjacent to offshore wind areas.
Industrial O & M ports – crucial infrastructure
• Service operation vessels 250-300 ft.
• Crew transfer vessels, up to 100 ft.
• Additional or rebuilt piers needed
• Dredging
• Additional breakwater may be needed
• Marine facilities such as bulkheads, platforms, riprap, gangways, and cranes
• Onshore facilities such as a control room, office space, commercial warehouse, a workshop, a crew areas, and crew parking.
Build-out cost analysis
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports funding would come from local, state and federal governments, private investment firms, developers, manufacturers and port owners. The cost of 1 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind is $5 billion, making the 25 GW goal of offshore wind at a cost of $125 billion.
Each offshore wind turbine …
• Sheds enough BPA to contaminate millions of liters of water
• Is a major source of sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) atmospheric emissions (SF₆ is the most potent greenhouse gas, 23,500 times more potent than CO₂)
• Leaks hundreds of gallons of oil and pollutants into the ocean yearly
• Blades are deposited into landfills at the end of their life-span (7-20 years)
• Is supported by industrial operations ports contributing to air, water, noise and light pollution
• Will pollute beaches if (when) they fail and break into the ocean
Offshore wind sites are often located on crucial coastal avian flyways – routes used by millions of migrating birds each year.
• The diameter of the turbines blades up to 700 ft.
• The end of the turbine blades reach speeds up to 200 mph, a deadly risk to soaring birds – among them Albatross, Pelicans, Terns, Shearwater and Gulls
Upwelling: the process in which deep nutrient rich cold water rises to the surface
• Turbines block downwind upwelling
• Upwelling efficiency diminished by 15%
• Reduction of zooplankton in water column
• Food availability for all species reduced
• Ocean warmed in affected area
Offshore substations
• Highly visible, located close to shore
• West coast floating technology not yet developed
• Selected substations proposed to use EPA-disallowed “once through cooling”
• Millions of gallons of superheated and chlorinated water discharged into the ocean
Impact on commercial and recreational fishing
• Loss of fishing grounds
• Navigational hazards
• Loss of fishing opportunities
• Increased ship traffic and competition
The offshore wind industry will negatively impact our current thriving economies.
Soaring cost of offshore wind energy
• California’s rate is now ~$40/MWh
• Floating Offshore ~$145/MWh (NREL 2022 Cost of Wind Energy Review)
Environmental NGOs co-opted by wind industry donations and marketing misinformation:
• Audubon
• Sierra Club
• NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• EDF (Environmental Defense Fund)
• Atlantic Marine Conservation Society
• WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
“BOEM anticipates that the proposed action would have no measurable influence on climate change.” (Revolution Offshore Wind Farm, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, p. 3.8-11)
In recognition of the critical role of a healthy ocean in sustaining life on Earth, it’s essential to prioritize the protection and preservation of marine ecosystems. Any activities that threaten the balance of marine life can have far-reaching consequences, affecting not only marine species but also human populations that rely on the ocean for resources and livelihoods.
—National Offshore-wind Opposition Alliance (NOOA), October 7, 2024
Download original document: “Offshore Wind Impacts and Consequences”