As a consultant I started permitting wind projects in 2001 and have worked on projects throughout the Western States. I agree with much of your analysis, but I think another factor is lack of transmission especially in high wind areas. I also think there is a lot of opportunity for repowering old wind projects. The largest wind project by number of turbines in Washington state still has 0.66 MW turbines. Many wind projects in the U.S. are 15-20 years old and should be good candidates for repowering.
I look at WY and MT, and I see some big transmission built out of WY at least right now, but it seems they are shipping out wind power, while keeping their coal plants running.
And it seems that some of the needed transmission elsewhere has been subject to similar opposition as wind and now solar. Though I've got to say, as I guy who likes seeing wind turbines in Western vistas, transmission towers and lines feel more disruptive. We'll see what happens with these various technologies to upgrade capacity of existing lines, but give the ways that reactionary states can hold back progress, I'm not too optimistic anymore.
You are right that there is a lot of opposition to transmission, but I think the states and feds recognize we need more transmission. There needs to be more projects like the Soo Green Transmission line in the Midwest which is several hundred miles of buried HVDC transmission that is proposed to be in the right-of-way of a railroad. One problem is utilities are not incentivized to build new transmission if the sole purpose is to increase access to renewables, they cannot recover costs through state utilities commissions and pass on costs to customers.
As a consultant I started permitting wind projects in 2001 and have worked on projects throughout the Western States. I agree with much of your analysis, but I think another factor is lack of transmission especially in high wind areas. I also think there is a lot of opportunity for repowering old wind projects. The largest wind project by number of turbines in Washington state still has 0.66 MW turbines. Many wind projects in the U.S. are 15-20 years old and should be good candidates for repowering.
I look at WY and MT, and I see some big transmission built out of WY at least right now, but it seems they are shipping out wind power, while keeping their coal plants running.
And it seems that some of the needed transmission elsewhere has been subject to similar opposition as wind and now solar. Though I've got to say, as I guy who likes seeing wind turbines in Western vistas, transmission towers and lines feel more disruptive. We'll see what happens with these various technologies to upgrade capacity of existing lines, but give the ways that reactionary states can hold back progress, I'm not too optimistic anymore.
You are right that there is a lot of opposition to transmission, but I think the states and feds recognize we need more transmission. There needs to be more projects like the Soo Green Transmission line in the Midwest which is several hundred miles of buried HVDC transmission that is proposed to be in the right-of-way of a railroad. One problem is utilities are not incentivized to build new transmission if the sole purpose is to increase access to renewables, they cannot recover costs through state utilities commissions and pass on costs to customers.