Trump Preparing Executive Order To Stop Offshore Wind Buildout On US East Coast, US Congressman Claims
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
US Congressman Jefferson Van Drew said on Monday that he was working closely with US President-elect Donald Trump on drafting an executive order to stop offshore wind activities along the US East Coast. The directive is expected to be finalised within the first few months of Donald Trump’s administration, the US Congressman stated in a press release on 13 January.
But it does look that Trump himself, is blowing in the wind.
To remind, seven East Coast offshore wind projects (in operation, under construction, or yet to enter the construction phase), were granted construction permits by the Trump administration during his first presidential term.
These include the large-scale offshore wind projects that were awarded federal leases from 2017 to 2020: Kitty Hawk North (2017), Empire Wind (2017), Skipjack (2018), Beacon Wind (2019), SouthCoast Wind (2019), Vineyard Northeast (2019), and South Fork Wind (2020). The Biden administration has approved eleven further offshore wind lease permits.
How did such a technological imbecile get voted in as President of the United States?
US DOE Offers US$1.76 billion Loan To Hydrostor For A-CAES California Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Energy Storage News.
These three paragraphs give more detail.
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has made a conditional commitment for a loan to long-duration energy storage (LDES) developer and operator Hydrostor of up to US$1.76 billion.
If finalised, the loan would be used to help fund the Willow Rock Energy Storage Centre, a 500MW/4,000MWh, 8-hour advanced compressed air energy storage system (A-CAES) in Eastern Kern County, California, led by Hydrostor subsidiary GEM A-CAES.
Compressed air energy storage (CAES) charges by pressurising air and funnelling it into a storage medium, often a salt cavern, and discharges it by releasing the compressed air through a heating system, which expands air before it is sent through a turbine generator.
Note.
- Both the Canadian Hydrostor and the British Highview Power use air in their batteries, with the Canadians using compressed air, often in salt caverns and the British using liquid air in tanks.
- Highview Power’s first large scale battery will be 200MW/2.5GWh, which is about half the size of Hydrostor’s, which will be 500MW/4.0GWh.
- Having mathematically-modeled large tanks full of chemicals in the 1970s for ICI, I wouldn’t be surprised, if the Highview Power battery is more easily scalable.
This could be an interesting technological shootout.
Complicating matters could be Trump’s policies to big batteries.
This article on Utility Dive, which is entitled Potential Trump Policies Pose Risks For US Storage Sector, With Musk Impact Uncertain.
Analysts Say Gives A Reasoned.
Higher battery material tariffs and phased-down IRA tax credits threaten a 15% drop in U.S. storage deployment through 2035 in a “worst-case” scenario,
BNEF analysts said.
German Far-Right Vows To Tear Down Wind Turbines
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on oilprice.com.
These two paragraphs add detail to the story.
Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has vowed to dismantle wind parks and wind turbines should it win power in the upcoming presidential elections in February, aligning itself with similar sentiments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. AfD asserts in its election platform that it “rejects the further expansion of wind energy” and has called for cuts to renewable subsidies.
German offshore-wind group BWO has hit back at AfD’s anti-wind policy, saying Putin would be the biggest beneficiary of such a move. AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel has also tried to walk back that position, saying her earlier anti-wind comments referred to a local matter in the state of Hesse.
This could be good for the UK.
This is the first two paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry for Wind Power in Germany.
Wind power in Germany is a growing industry. The installed capacity was 55.6 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2017, with 5.2 GW from offshore installations. In 2020, 23.3% of the country’s total electricity was generated through wind power, up from 6.2% in 2010 and 1.6% in 2000.
More than 26,772 wind turbines were located in the German federal area by year end 2015, and the country has plans for further expansion. As of the end of 2015, Germany was the third largest producer of wind power in the world by installations, behind China and the United States. Germany also has a number of turbine manufacturers, like Enercon, Nordex and Senvion.
By the end of June 2022, Germany had a total of 30,000 installed wind turbines, with a capacity in excess of over 64 GW.
Large numbers of second-hand wind turbines to plant all over Starmer, Reeves and Miliband’s vision of the UK would go down just fine in the cash-strapped Treasury, but would the British public like them?
So as Starmer and Reeves will talk to anybody to save their skins, are they talking to the AfD?
Will Trump Venture To Impose ‘No New (Offshore) Wind Turbines’ Policy And Bring US Industry Supporting 120,000 Jobs To Halt?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
During his presidential campaign in 2024, Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to stop offshore wind farms from being built in the US “on day one”. On 7 January, the US president-elect reiterated the plan which now seems to apply to wind energy on land too, saying he would look into implementing “a policy where no windmills are being built”.
He really does look to be following his “Drill, Baby, Drill” philosophy.
But the first paragraph of the article does indicate that Trump might not be having it all his own way.
The backlash is coming not only from the wind energy industry but also from government officials, as wind energy now accounts for 10 per cent of the US electricity generation, employs more than 120,000 people, and attracts tens of billions of US dollars in investments per year.
How easy is it to get rid of the President of the United States, without doing them any physical harm?
The whole article is well-worth reading, but the last paragraph is priceless.
So, will the incoming US president fulfil the promise and embark on implementing a policy that bans building new wind farms, both offshore and onshore, jeopardising jobs and billions in investments and federal lease fees?
It would certainly be a policy, that would have a profound negative effect on much of the US economy.
Brazilian President Enacts Offshore Wind Law, Vetoes Fossil Energy-Related Additions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed into law the bill recently passed by the Brazilian Senate that establishes regulations on allocating and permitting offshore wind development areas. The Brazilian president has vetoed provisions related to fossil fuels in the final version of the legislation which were added while the bill was in the Chamber of Deputies.
It looks like President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has just struck himself off Trumkopf’s Christmas card list.
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Trump Calls On UK To ‘Get Rid’ of Offshore Wind Farms In Favour Of Oil & Gas; Gets Invited To Hull
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Donald Trump has urged the UK government to “get rid of windmills” in the North Sea and open it up for oil & gas, which earned the US president-elect an open invitation from Humber Marine and Renewables, a UK regional industry organisation, to visit Hull and witness the effects of offshore wind on the economy first-hand.
This paragraph sums up Trumps views on wind farms, which he incorrectly calls windmills.
According to global media, on 3 January, Donald Trump said via his social media platform Truth Social that the UK was “making a very big mistake” with wind energy and that it should “open up the North Sea”, accompanying the post with a link to news about US oil company Apache saying it would exit the North Sea, citing the windfall tax in the UK. The news on Apache’s UK exit followed the UK government’s announcement on raising the tax from 35 per cent to 38 per cent and using the profit for renewable energy.
But then he wouldn’t realise that a windmill grinds corn and a wind turbine generates electricity.
This paragraph describes the invitation of Trump to Hull.
After the incoming US president’s social media post, director of the UK industry organisation Humber Marine and Renewables, Dave Laister, said in a comment to BBC: “I’d like to invite Donald Trump, or a representative here in the UK, to come to Hull and take in Offshore Wind Connections 2025. He needs to hear what those ‘windmills’ have done for the economy, for our maritime heritage and for the region’s sense of purpose. I’d like him to understand the appetite for working in this clean, green sector from those at our schools and colleges, to sample the hunger to be part of a climate emergency solution.”
I doubt he’ll go to the city.
One problem, he’ll have getting to Hull, is that the city doesn’t have an airport, so he’ll have to go into Humberside, Leeds or Robin Hood.
If you would like to go to Offshore Wind Connections 2025, then this is the web site.
Enjoy the party!
Trump’s Eyeing Greenland – But Other Arctic Investment Is Frozen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
The BBC Article is a good introduction to Trump’s ideas for Greenland.
This is my one thought.
Do we side with Trump and the United States or our Danish friends?
The Americans Who Think RFK Can Make Them Healthy Again
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
They are poor, sick, jobless and trust no one. But people in one of the most deprived parts of the US are putting their faith in a man who doesn’t believe in vaccines
These three paragraphs introduce the article.
The phone signal vanishes as you drive over the ridge into the purple valley and down to the town of Paw Paw, West Virginia, population 410.
Being born here deals a person a certain hand. A life six years shorter on average than those from California. A likelihood that you’ll be poor and suffer from disease (one in three adults here have a disability).
A high chance of addiction from the opioid epidemic that was brought here by rapacious pharmaceutical companies that has left the valley peppered with children brought up by grandparents.
It is a powerful piece from Louise Callaghan.
These are my thoughts.
As a coeliac myself, I do wonder if there is an epidemic of coeliac disease in Paw Paw.
Coeliac disease is genetic, so once it gets in a close community, it can spread through marriage and childbirth.
My coeliac disease came from my father, who was never diagnosed, but he got it through the generations from his great-great-grandfather, who was a tailor from Konigsberg in East Prussia.
If a coeliac is going to a country, where gluten-free foods are unavailable, they are advised by doctors to take steroids like Dexamethasone. American doctors regularly prescribe this steroid to coeliac patients, as it does work to a certain extent.
Everybody in Paw Paw should be tested for coeliac disease and those with the disease should go on a gluten-free diet.
But I suspect a plan like this wouldn’t go down well in Paw Paw.
DOE Funds Research Into Long-Duration Energy Storage Using Lead-Acid Batteries
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Best Magazine.
This is the sub-heading
US federal cash is on its way to fund research into long-duration energy storage using lead-acid batteries.
These two paragraphs give more details.
A consortium backed by industry bodies Battery Council International and the Consortium for Battery Innovation, will conduct pre-competitive research aimed at improving lead battery performance. Companies participating in the consortium include Advanced Battery Concepts, C&D/Trojan, Clarios, Crown Battery, East Penn Manufacturing, EnerSys, Gridtential and Stryten Energy. The collaborating national laboratories are Argonne, Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest (PNNL).
The $5 million award from the US Department of Energy, announced on 27 September, will support work to develop lead batteries capable of 10+ hours of storage with a pathway to $0.05/kWh levelised cost of storage by 2030.
Note.
- The companies involved have names that indicate they could be battery makers.
- The collaborating national laboratories are world-class Premier League players.
- Over the nearly fifty years, that I drove cars, lead-acid batteries improved a lot and there might be more to come.
- The last paragraph is ambitious, unless they know more than I do about lead-acid batteries. Which is likely!
This is also said in one of Highview Power’s news items.
Highview Power, the global leader in long-duration energy storage solutions, is pleased to announce that it has developed a modular cryogenic energy storage system, the CRYOBattery, that is scalable up to multiple gigawatts of energy storage and can be located anywhere. This technology reaches a new benchmark for a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of $140/MWh for a 10-hour, 200 MW/2 GWh system. Highview Power’s cryogenic energy storage system is equivalent in performance to, and could potentially replace, a fossil fuel power station. Highview Power’s systems can enable renewable energy baseload power at large scale, while also supporting electricity and distribution systems and providing energy security.
The battery researchers are saying $0.05/kWh levelised cost of storage by 2030 and Highview Power are saying $0.14/kWh for the same parameter.
Could Elon Musk’s Relationship With Donald Trump Be The Fly In The Ointment?
Would Musk want research to go on, that might weaken the use of his lithium-ion batteries for stationary applications?
Ill Wind For Renewable Energy In US To Boost UK Projects
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
SSE boss Alistair Phillips-Davies says Trump is expected to put oil and gas ahead of renewables, easing supply chain shortages for UK wind power shortages
These are the first two paragraphs.
A likely push towards more oil and gas drilling under President Trump could help ease supply chain shortages that have hampered a faster rollout of renewables on the UK system, but weaken the availability of parts for gas-fired plants, the boss of electricity supplier SSE has said.
Donald Trump’s election win is expected to boost the American oil and gas industries and diminish the buildout of renewables, which had been accelerated by President Biden’s $369 billion stimulus package for clean power and transport.
SSE’s offshore wind farms under construction or planning in the UK, that are likely to be delivered before the end of Trump’s second term are.
- Dogger Bank A – 1235 MW – GE-Haliade X – 2025
- Dogger Bank B – 1235 MW – GE-Haliade X – 2025
- Dogger Bank C – 1218 MW – GE-Haliade X – 2025
- Dogger Bank D – 1320 MW
- Berwick Bank 4100 MW – 2028
- Seagreen Phase 1A – 500 MW
Note.
- The date is the expected commissioning date.
- GE is an American company, that are heavily into renewables and electrical gubbins to connect them to the grid.
- Trump is unlikely to have much effect on the delivery of Dogger Bank A-C.
- If Trump is stopping US wind farm projects, then if SSE has the finance, they will surely be able to take advantage of a lack of turbine orders.
- If you could handle a 4100 MW order, it would keep your company going for at least three years.
Given that SSE are investing billions in renewable energy and because of their past record, I would expect that the SSE boss has called this one right.
The Anonymous Widower 