TRUMP October 12,2011 ‘The Honorable Alex Salmond Scottish Parliament ‘The Office ofthe First Minister St. Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh, Scotland EHI3DG United Kingdom Dear Alex: Lam enclosing just another of many bad articles on wind projec they are having. Hopefully, Aberdeen’s magnificent coast by these monsters! em ‘and the trouble 1c will nt be destroyed See you soon! ‘With best wishes, Donald J. Trump.Offshore wind farms are struggling in the United States, Killing Birds, Noise, Low Capacity Another Offshore Wind Project in Trouble Due to High Costs «nr Ent Roto Ft, Oc 72011 ‘eh omnene Perth boul os 3 “The U.S. has an abundant offshore wind resource that remaine untapped,—Eneray Secretary Steven Chu Offshore wind development continues to face strong headwinds in the United States. Offshore wind has been outed as @ good atemative io onshore wind because wind resources are generally Dotter ofishore, but the realty has been diferent so far. Offshore wind is far more expensive than ‘onshore wind and even pro-green slats like New Vork are having second thoughts. General Electric facing loner than expected offshore wind ordare and is considering laying off some ts wind workers in Norway. And even wth substantial federal subsidies, some utiles are fighting back against the offshore wing industry mainly Because offs expense, ‘The New York State Offshore Wind Project [Now York Sate, which usualy is an advocate of groan energy, i forogoing an offshore wind project due toils high cost. The project was to develop offshore wind farms for Groat Lakes (Ontario and Erie, whose cos of construction would be recovered over the next 20 years by seling is generation to the New York Power Authoriy. The buyers ofthe power, tha New York Power Authority, turned the project down due tits expense Five wind developers submitted proposals to devolop an offshore wind farm on Great Lakes Ontario and Eri in the range of 120 to $00 megawatts. The lakes are though bo ‘one ofthe most reliable sources of electroty generated by wind in New York State because the wind blows unnterupted. According tothe New York Power Authoiy, a 150-mogawak ‘wind farm would cost boweon $1.2 bilion and $2.0 billion fo bul and would cost the ‘Authority between $80 milion and $100 millon annually in power purchases (a) Thal ‘wansiates ito a per Klowatt cost of $8,000 to over $13,000, much higher then the estimated ‘cost of an offshore wind fam by the Energy Information Administration of $5,975 por Kilowatt i ln fac, the lower figure i over e-thirdbigher. It soems that Now York is facing a similar problem to that of Massachusotis whore Cape ‘Win off the coast of Cape Cod i having a problem finding buyers forts high cost offshore wind energy. Some Massachusetts utlites (e.g, NStar) are realizing that hey can mee tit ‘slat's renewable mandates by purchasing renewable power trom Canada or from onshore \wind farms at much lower cost. Natonal Grid, the uty ready o buy half of Cape winds Power, estimates is deal wl cost ratepayers 1.2 billion above the projectod matt pricecof comparable energy. In comparison, NSiar claims Its contracts with tree land-based wind farms are $111 millon below market price) General Electric Rethinking Offshore Wind Operations. General Electrics facing slower than expected growth in oftshare wind energy orders andi reviewing is development plans. Infact is consigoing laying of 40 workers in Norway {and is holding of on a fect Inthe United Kingdom unl aguipment orders can suppor tho plant[iv] The company is planning to erect a 4.1 mogawatt wind turbine prototype Offshore in Gothenburg Harbor bythe end ofthe year that the company fees wil be good for ebalowe water buts ing togh competion fom ote ind ble manufacturer | For dcp offshore waters, General Electric working on @ 10 to 15 megawatt wind turbine using superconducting magnets for which the U.S. Department of Energy s providing $3 milion. The project wil be condicted in two stages, @ devetopmont and evaluation stage that Incudes economic, environmental and commercalzation potential, and @ commercalzation stage fo determine its potential in soalo and cost, The goal i fo generate more wind power at lower eoet vil Department of Energy Funds Offshore Wind Development ‘The U.S. Department of Energy has funded 41 wind energy projects tothe tune of $43 milion to accelerate otlshore wind development,vil] The funding i to be provided over 5 years fo improve the technology of otishore wind turbines, incluing contol systems ana ‘Support-stucture designs, and o eliminate market barter that hinder development, “The Department of Energy has already funded innovative solar projects such as SSolynea[vil] which has resullod in aloes of taxpayer money since that company fs now bankrupt and cannot repay the government the $528 milion thatthe company has spent (>) Including a very modern facity with robots and te atest in spas. Solyndras pian sought to ‘cut costs with an innovative cylindrical design thal reduced the labor required for Installation, but the company could not hands the high manufacturing cost Asirlar ‘roblom could result withthe Department of Energy’s offshore wind investment loans the technology's high costs cannot be brought down fo a more compatve range compared © ‘existing technologies. ‘Some Criticisms of Wind Power “There are some eres wno complain abou the visual appearance of wind turbines. Donald. ‘example is ighing an offshore wind farm in Scolland because ofthe view {om his proposed gol course. Th offshore wind fam, to be located about 15 mils fom the got resor, was to be a 33 wind turbine farm, but has since been scaled back to 11 ‘turbines because of safely sues in the shipping channel soring the North Sea oil industy fe) ‘Another cicism is that thoy kil birds. Aocordng o the Fish and Wile Servico, windmils kill nearly haifa milion birds a year. The American Bird Conservancy projected that the number could moro than double in 20 years if a government wind power goal of supplying 20 percent of the nation's power by 2090 Is etained. Recent golden eagles were found ceed ear the Pine Tree Wind Farm project. operated bythe Los Angeles Dopartment of Water ‘and Power, Laws protect eagles and many migrating birds (2. the 1918 Migratory Bird {wealy Act), but currenty there ae only voluntary guidlines fr wind power producer) “The irony is that seven ol and gas companies operating in North Dakota wore recently brought fo ask for supposedly Kling 28 migratory birds thal were found dead ner some oil‘waste lagoons. These misdemeanors cary fines of upto $15,000 for each dead bird and upto six months In prison xl) ‘Other erticisms besides cost, view, and bird Ks deal with Ils intermittency, requiring back-up ower; noise pollution: government subsices; low capacity factors; and small envronmental ‘contribution to name just few. A wind project in Vermont s found tobe an example, ‘whore iil receive $4 milion in federal production tax credits over 10 years, produce only ‘one-third ots rated capac of 63 megawas, reduce fow greenhouse gas emissions since ‘only 4 percent of the state's emissions come fram electricity genocation, temove 134 acres of forast which wilinerease erosion to headwater streams, and hur the tourist population bel) Further, ld or broken wind turbine blades cannot be recycted, posing a new problom for industry. Denmark's leacing business newspaper Dagbladet 8: rsen recently warned, the wind becomes a central part of energy supply, a huge waste problem is growing with similar speed A key materia in constructing wind turbines, carbon fiber composi, cannot be recycieg and is ether filing European lands ors being bumed crating toxic emissions. "Nearly al turbine blades are manufactured from thermoset plastics, the only material ‘urrentiy known that meets reliably siandards due other relatively high strength and ow weight properties. But th stress damage to ider composites is poorly understood and wear and tear on blades can be considerable, reducing power generation by 20 to 30 percent, and ‘eecing o vegularly replace blades (xiv) Conclusion Offshore wind farms are stugging in the United States because they are far rom cost lective compared to their onshore counterpart or to conventional genoraing technologies. “an offshore wind farm inthe United Sates is yet to be built though several proposals have boon put forth, Prudenoy oviows by uly companies have kept tham in check so far. Of course, besides cost, athe faciors regarding wind are the need for government subsidies costing taxpayers money, low capacity factors and emissions abatement, and environmental ‘issues regarting views, bird kil, noise, and waste.