Science

Send news tip to FOXNews.com

ADVERTISEMENT=20

=20 =

Dutch Moving Wind Turbines Offshore

Saturday, September 16, 2006

By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands =97 For centuries, Dutch = windmills=20 have pumped water out of the low-lying country, and old-fashioned wooden = mills=20 are as closely linked with the Netherlands'international image as its = dikes and=20 bikes.

But in the face of a large and growing lobby against the windmill's = modern=20 electricity-generating counterpart _ the wind turbine _ the country has = started=20 moving them offshore and out of sight.

The Egmond aan Zee wind farm, the first major offshore Dutch project, = is=20 nearing completion 8 miles from Haarlem and is scheduled to go on line = this=20 fall. It has 36 turbines, each with arms reaching higher than a football = field,=20 capable of producing a combined 108 megawatts an hour _ enough to power = roughly=20 100,000 households.

It's the first in a flood of similar-sized offshore projects proposed = for=20 Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and the United States, in Texas, New = Jersey=20 and Massachusetts.

In the Netherlands, which targets having 9 percent of its electricity = generated from renewable sources by 2010, theneed to move offshore is = growing=20 more urgent due to the increasing number of wind turbine critics. They = say the=20 towering mechanical structures are blighting landscapes that once = inspired Dutch=20 painters like Rembrandt van Rijn.

(Story continues below)

Advertise Here

Advertisements=20

"We have such a flat country, normally nothing blocks your view of = the=20 sky,"said Jim Mollet, leader of an anti-windmill group that claims = 15,000=20 members."These days, any turbine worthy of the name dwarfs even the = church=20 towers."

He said his group offers a play-book to local protesters on how to = resist=20 proposals for new turbines, often by farmers seeking generous state = subsidies.=20 He said the turbines are not only responsible for"horizon pollution,"but = are=20 noisy and inefficient as well.

"We're not just NIMBY about wind energy,"Mollet said, referring to = the"not in=20 my backyard"acronym."We're NIABY _ not in anybody's backyard."

While land-based wind turbines have made significant inroads in = Europe and=20 now claim around 2.7 percent of the total European generation market, = offshore=20 turbines have remained little more than a curiosity because the = economics are=20 daunting.

Europe has 40,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity, the U.S. has = 9,000=20 megawatts, and an additional 10,000 megawatts are scattered around the = globe,=20 mostly in Asia. But so far just 600 megawatts are generated offshore _ = more than=20 half in Denmark.

Christian Kjaer, policy director for the European Wind Energy = Association,=20 predicts onshore wind generation will continue to grow, especially in = areas less=20 densely populated than the Netherlands. But he expects offshore = generation will=20 grow even faster, increasing its share to a third of all wind energy in = Europe=20 by 2020 and half by 2030.

Building the turbines offshore means they don't spoil anybody's view, = and=20 they can harness more consistent and stronger offshore winds. But they = must be=20 rugged enough to weather salty sea air and the pounding of ocean = storms.

"It's a new technology, so costs are falling,"Kjaer said."At a = certain point=20 the cost curves will collide"and offshore electricity will become = cheaper than=20 onshore production."But the question is, when?"

The Egmond project _ jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC. and the = Dutch=20 utility company Nuon NV _ is costing $250 million to build, debatably = more than=20 the revenue it will generate over its 20-year lifetime.

A package of direct aid, tax breaks and production subsidies will = cover more=20 than 100 percent of the construction costs over the first decade. = Anti-windmill=20 activist Mollet says this money is little more than a handout, but the = companies=20 argue they face hard-to-quantify maintenance costs and other risks.

"It's at sea that a company like Shell has a competitive edge, on a = large,=20 capital-intensive project with large technical challenges,"said Huub den = Rooijen, director of the joint venture.

One late difficulty was the need to find a new location for the = coastal=20 substation where cables carrying electricity from the turbines connect = with the=20 Dutch power grid. A town successfully contested the original plan.

The big, 1,000-megawatt London Array project in Britain is stalled by = a=20 similar fight over the location of a substation.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government has carefully mapped out = space for=20 65 wind farms in the North Sea during a 10-year consensus-building = phase.

They chose sites in shallow waters, out of sight except under = extremely clear=20 conditions, avoiding shipping lanes around Rotterdam, Europe's largest = port, and=20 far enough from shore to reduce the danger of their whirling blades to = coastal=20 and migratory birds.

Hans Peeters, director of the Netherlands'Bird Protection Society, = said his=20 group has opposed several projects where the proposed sites might = threaten=20 birds, but he supports the offshore projects.

"It's too bad when any bird is killed, but as a nature organization = we are=20 for wind energy,"he said."You must balance the threat to birds from = turbines in=20 the short term against the threat of global warming in the long = run."

Peeters said his group drew hope from a Danish study that found fewer = migrating birds were killed by offshore turbines than expected.

"Apparently, birds see the turbines and avoid them,"he said.

Science

Giant=20 Snail Invasion=20
Science=20 Imitating... Magic=20
Steve=20 Irwin's Legacy=20
Fishy=20 Claim?

ADVERTISEMENT

Sex=20 scandals at a Denver school=20
Flash:=20 FOX & Friends Edition=20
Courtroom=20 Brawl=20
Soul=20 for Sale=20
Talking=20 Points: 11/15=20
Skating=20 rink destroyed in Alabama=20
Wasteland:=20 11/16=20
Deadly=20 Storms=20
Kid=20 Beating=20
San=20 Francisco Snubs Military

Science

Dutch Moving Wind Turbines Offshore

Top Video

Space=20 Storm

Science

AP Wires

Marketplace