Not another bl***dy windfarm 🤬

[Tradewinds]

BBC article here

Green light for offshore wind farm to power 1m homes

 

[John_Silver]

May need to move some waypoints. Especially the one on the N Inner Gabbard (top left corner of existing windfarm) which I like to home in on, coming into the Orwell from Scheveningen /IJmuiden / the Frisians........EDIT Actually, looking on a chart, the Five Estuaries farms don't look too obstructive, if coming in from the NW (as in above scenarios). Looks to be well S of the rhumb line. BUT the North Falls extension seems to obstruct the direct route from Long Sand Head to the Delta or Vlissingen. Glad that I have the time, these days, to sail south! Although the French are busy with offshore windfarms on their Atlantic coast too......


PR puff here

 

[KevinV]

Interesting article in my Dutch paper - about turbines cutting each other out of the wind. Not sure if you can access it, but same principle as trees in a wood:

Slecht nieuws voor energietransitie: verwacht niet te veel van windmolens, want ze houden elkaar uit de wind

 

[John_Silver]

Paywall. Is there a chunk (summary / overview) you can screenshot?

 

[KevinV]

Paywall. Is there a chunk (summary / overview) you can screenshot?

Even better, here's the study itself:

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-sustainability/fulltext/S2949-7906(25)00269-1?utm_medium=homepage

 

[Sailing steve]

What's the problem?

The more cheap power we can generate ourselves from renewables means we've less reliance on crazy men holding us to ransom with fossil fuel supply and less justification for our leaders and masters sitting back and allowing our wonderful privatised energy companies shareholders to continue screwing us for every Kw of power we use.

Honestly, what's not to like?

 

[johnalison]

What's the problem?

The more cheap power we can generate ourselves from renewables means we've less reliance on crazy men holding us to ransom with fossil fuel supply and less justification for our leaders and masters sitting back and allowing our wonderful privatised energy companies shareholders to continue screwing us for every Kw of power we use.

Honestly, what's not to like?

There was a time when I was concerned about the energy cost of building them, plus ongoing costs and the cost of decommissioning, and was unable to get a satisfactory answer, or any answer at all because it seemed to enthusiasts that they must be a good thing. I believe that modern units now are much better and that they are probably worthwhile at a national level, though I still wonder if at least some of the great cost might not be better used in pursuing efficiency in other ways.

I'm not sure about cheap power, and the need for backup, maybe nuclear is evident, as well as the money spent to foreign manufacturers, but on balance, I do like them, perhaps as a stop-gap before better systems are available, such as solar or fusion power. The loss of remoteness in the North Sea for yachtsmen is to be regretted, though this is now of less concern to me personally.

 

[dunedin]

The good news is that in UK waters pleasure craft are generally allowed to sail through a windfarm, as long as keep a minimum of 50m from each turbine (extra restrictions apply during construction) - whereas many European countries do not permit this and require yachts to go around the perimeter.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

In our play boats, solar has been a revelation compared to wind . Perhaps wind farms are superior in the winter.

None of them would be there without massive subsidies though. Perhaps, in time, we won't notice them so much like we do pylons now.

 

[TomK]

I’m sure this comment will go down like a sack of spuds, but I don’t mind them at all.

In my view they make navigating easier. I learned to sail on rivers, so I get disorientated at sea. wind farms give me nice straight lines to follow!

 

[WoodyP]

I hope that someone will come and pick you up off a sandbank