By Jack Dini ——Bio and Archives--June 24, 2024

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America’s first large scale offshore wind farm began sending power to the Northeast in early 2024, but a wave of wind farm project cancellations and rising costs have left many people with doubts about the industry’s future in the US. (1)

Several big hitters, including Orsted, Equinor, BP and Avangrid, have cancelled contracts or sought to renegotiate them in recent months. Pulling out meant the companies faced cancellation penalties ranging from $16 million to several hundred million dollars per project. It also resulted in Siemens Energy, the world’s largest maker of offshore wind turbines anticipating financial losses in 2024 of around $2.2 billion. (2)

New York cancelled power contracts for three offshore wind projects citing a turbine maker’s plan to scrap its biggest machines. The news is a heavy blow to the US offshore wind industry and a major setback for the climate ambitions of New York and President Biden. The three projects would have delivered 4 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to the state amounting to almost half of New York’s 2035 goal. (3)

New York’s offshore wind aspirations are among the most ambitious in the country and key to complying with the state’s climate law which mandates a carbon free grid by 2040. At present, the state is less than 2 percent of the way toward meeting its target. (2)

Claims which are already tenuous due to rising wind and solar costs ignore virtually all of the hidden real world costs associated with building and operating wind turbines and solar panels while also keeping the grid reliable. John Hinderbacker provides the following table. (4)

Brett Christopher says, “Unless........

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