Norwegian government interested in Morro Bay offshore lease

November 27, 2016

wind-farm-area

By KAREN VELIE

A company owned primarily by the Norwegian government applied to the U.S. government to compete with Trident Winds for the lease of 55.58 square miles off of the coast of Cambria for a wind energy farm after the feds sent out a formal request for interest.

In January, Seattle-based Trident Winds made an unsolicited application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for an offshore lease to install 100 wind turbines located in an area approximately 26 miles off the coastline stretching from the Monterey County line to Cambria. The proposed Morro Bay wind farm consists of turbines mounted on floating structures which will not be visible from the shoreline.

Offshore wind turbinesBecause of the depth of waters off the coast of California, instead of attaching the turbines to the ocean floor, the floating turbines are to be tethered by cables to the ocean floor. A subsea export cable will then transport produced electricity to the PG&E substation located adjacent to the shuttered Morro Bay power plant, according to Trident Winds’ proposal.

In August, the BOEM initiated the required formal bidding competition. If no other company had bid on the lease, the BOEM would have proceeded with processing the Trident Winds project proposal.

However, Norwegian-based Statoil expressed interest in the Morro Bay offshore lease. Statoil, which does business in 36 countries, is 67 percent owned by the Norwegian government. [Sierra 2 the Sea]

In October, the BOEM announced they had “reviewed Statoil Winds submission to assess filing completeness and has determined they are legally, technically, and financially qualified to hold an outer continental shelf renewable energy commercial lease.”

Now that Statoil has received BOEM approval, it needs to submit a project proposal. In the end, the BOEM will determine which company wins the bid.


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We should be harnessing the wind coming from our local and state officials. It can also be used to replace natural gas.


Trident submits unsolicited bid; BOEM initiates competitive bid process; Statoil expresses interest. Now we will get competitive bids, just keeps the game relatively honest.


Enviroheadspinism 101: We want alts to nuke! But not solar panels! Or wind turbines! Or hydroelectric!


There is something very creepy about this but I haven’t figured out just what that is yet.


According to european studies, migrating birds take enormous detours around such installations, to the point where feeding and resting are interfered with, with the long term effect likely to be extinction. Also, the tethers underwater pose a navigational hazard to marine mammals. There also have been no studies on what effect vibrations from these gigantic turbines operating around the clock will have on marine life.


With home rooftop solar panels available, this type of centralized, large-scale industrialization of our seas makes no sense whatsoever. Join us on Facebook at: Stop the Morro Bay Offshore Wind Farm


Joey Racano, Director

http://www.oceanoutfallgroup.com


It’s probably an off shore HAARP-like device ;)


I do not see the sale of US resources to foreign nationals while Trump is in office. If it is good business then it is good business for us.


Jorge: We won’t be selling them the wind, we will be allowing them to add value to it, then sell it to us. In much the same way that we ship Ag products to China for processing, then they ship the finished food back to us to eat. We’re really just outsourcing the jobs and a piece of the profit, not the the actual resource.


It is your point (hiring a middle man) that I propose the new paradigm is to avoid. I am of the working class (Republicans) and not interested in selling a local opportunity just so we don’t have to do the work.


If only we had a nuclear plant to help us quench California’s thirst for electricity we wouldn’t have to jeopardize the animals living in the marine sanctuary.


who’s going to watch over the nuclear waste for 300 K years?


Right at the border of the marine sanctuary. How nifty.