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U.S. Wind Turbine Database Viewer

157 points by trimbo 7y ago

joey_bob 7y ago
It's not very windy in the South. Also, where are the offshore turbines mentioned?
- tda 7y ago
  They're east of NY, at the tip of long island
  - YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
    did they get greenlight for deploying those? I remember a lot of local karens opposing it because of birds or something
    - rhodysurf 7y ago
      Yes they did. It was a huge deal in RI. This farm powers Block Island and the excess goes to mainland RI. Previously BI was on Diesel fuel for power so there was a big motivation to get it done. The full environmental impacts are not clear yet though, as there are consequences for fishing (a large industry in this region), especially with lobster and squid who are affected by the emf of the high voltage cables.
- RmDen 7y ago
  Block Island..Here: https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5269 https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5... Also Ørsted has been awarded the right to build New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-new-jerseys-first-offshore-wind-farm/ https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-new...
  - cr1895 7y ago
    Some more in the development pipeline: Vineyard off of MA: https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-business/flagship-projects/vineyard-wind-offshore-wind-farm https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-business/flagship-p... Empire off of Long Island: https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
bamboozled 7y ago
Unfortunately the site has been HN'd, maybe give it a rest :)
tda 7y ago
Interesting how the total installed capacity is pretty respectable at 96GW, even though there are only 5 turbines above 5MW. In Europe the 7,5 MW Enercon onshore turbine is fairly common, and offshore the 8-10MW turbines are very much in fashion. For reference, the EU has 179GW installed as of 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Uni...
- adventured 7y ago
  I'm surprised the US is that close to the EU on installed capacity on a population adjusted basis (~148 GW if you adjust the US population up to the EU population). I'd like to see the US do a lot more with its wind power resources. We've done relatively little with offshore for example (that's only just beginning to see a serious push), while having rather epic offshore potential. The US Department of Energy lists the US with a technical offshore potential of 2,000+ GW.[1] Conveniently the US population is of course also concentrated along the coasts. [1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-offshore-wind-energy-potential https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-off...
  - sverige 7y ago
    The relatively recent political pushback against building turbines on farmland may encourage more of a push to develop offshore turbines. Development there was stopped early on by political resistance to having the gigantic, ugly, bird-killing machines spoiling the scenery.
    - beat 7y ago
      Only when there's an offshore to have. I live in the midwest, the nearest oceanfront is over 1000 miles away. And the "gigantic ugly bird-killing machines" arguments are falling apart quickly in the face of the reality of climate change.
      - sverige 7y ago
        Most wind farms are located far from where the electricity generated is used. For example, Facebook is building a wind farm in Nebraska for facilities in California. The loss in transmitting power that far is ridiculous. Why aren't their wind farms built off the coast of northern California? Wind turbines aren't carbon neutral. Better than coal, sure, but it's interesting that the discussion is always around building these things instead of reducing consumption. But no one gets rich off of reducing consumption.
ejcx 7y ago
Really interesting stuff here. The little cluster in North Carolina is "Amazon Wind Farm US East". I wonder if Amazon announces an electricity play soon, or if it's just related to sustainability efforts? Their use of wind is actually described more here: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/ https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/
- dwyerm 7y ago
  It is in Amazon's DNA to try not to brag. The US-WEST datacenters are pretty much all hydroelectric, but that says more about the incredibly low costs of hydro power in the area than the environmental benefits of it. The PR boost is nice, but I think for many organizations the switch to renewables is plain old everyday boring economics: Renewables have become cheap and easy to invest in.
beat 7y ago
I wonder if/when solar will catch up with or surpass wind? Part of the reason wind got so big in the past decade is cost - it's significantly cheaper now than fossil or nuclear. But solar costs are dropping even more rapidly than wind, and storage tech is improving (storage being more necessary for solar than wind).
- IAmEveryone 7y ago
  This[0] says just about now, and you're right that solar has been improving faster than wind (which is probably a function of one being semiconductor technology and the other being generators, where the low-hanging fruits have been harvested a long time ago). Of course there may well be local factors that may still make wind the better choice, and a mixture helps to even out production. So wind turbines aren't going to go out of fashion any time soon. Unlike coal. [0]: https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-are-winning-on-price-alone https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-are-w...
  - beat 7y ago
    Something I expect to see is a lot more highly localized solar installations - namely parking lots. While I don't think it's financially viable at the home level, I think it'd be great at the office or business level, where there's often large outdoor parking lots. A quick solar panel installation (maybe with some local storage) could power the building. It's the sort of thing where the long-term cost factors are so appealing it might become standard with new construction, and certainly appeals to manufacturers to make easy-install products specifically for this market.
    - IAmEveryone 7y ago
      Something I hope to see a lot less of is parking lots. Eliminate street-level parking in cities, and density could double (in US cities smaller than, say, Chicago). Average distances could be cut in half, making public transport or even biking or walking possible for far more trips than today. "We only need cars because others have cars" isn't entirely true, or there would have never been cars in the first place. But it's not entirely untrue, either.
chromaton 7y ago
This map shows why there's very few turbines in the southeast: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg It's just not windy here, except for a few spots.
- ubertakter 7y ago
  If you look at the wind resource potential around 100m, there are places where it might be feasible to place turbines in areas you don't normally think of as windy, most likely a ridge on the predominately leeward end of a plain. I was a little surprised the first time I heard about the possibility of turbines in the southeast, but in retrospect it makes sense. https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data?category=residential https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data?category=residenti...
- ip26 7y ago
  Comparing the two I can only marvel at all the untapped opportunity in Wyoming.
  - scblock 7y ago
    Wyoming has very low air density, which reduces the power generation potential. It also has a tiny population, limited transmission capacity, difficult terrain, and short building seasons. That said, there are transmission system upgrades for Wyoming coming in 2020. Because of this PacifiCorp released an RFP for up to 1,270 MW of wind generation on this upgraded system and I believe it is already all spoken for.
jwin742 7y ago
Is there a similar page for solar? Would be interesting to compare the two.
LegitShady 7y ago
Everyone talking about wind turbines and I'm just appreciating how fluid the cluster zooming is...I should add mapbox to my list of things to try. Their free tier looks like a good learning tool, or a good gis portal for small porfolio apps.
duckymcduckface 7y ago
As a random aside, is it just me or does the logo that the USGS uses for this project look a lot like the Klingon insignia?

157 points by trimbo 7y ago

joey_bob 7y ago

It's not very windy in the South. Also, where are the offshore turbines mentioned?

tda 7y ago
They're east of NY, at the tip of long island
- YeahSureWhyNot 7y ago
  did they get greenlight for deploying those? I remember a lot of local karens opposing it because of birds or something
  - rhodysurf 7y ago
    Yes they did. It was a huge deal in RI. This farm powers Block Island and the excess goes to mainland RI. Previously BI was on Diesel fuel for power so there was a big motivation to get it done. The full environmental impacts are not clear yet though, as there are consequences for fishing (a large industry in this region), especially with lobster and squid who are affected by the emf of the high voltage cables.
RmDen 7y ago
Block Island..Here: https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5269 https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/viewer/#10.13/41.1282/-71.5... Also Ørsted has been awarded the right to build New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-new-jerseys-first-offshore-wind-farm/ https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/24/orsted-set-to-build-new...
- cr1895 7y ago
  Some more in the development pipeline: Vineyard off of MA: https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-business/flagship-projects/vineyard-wind-offshore-wind-farm https://www.iberdrola.com/about-us/lines-business/flagship-p... Empire off of Long Island: https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html https://www.equinor.com/en/what-we-do/empirewind.html
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

bamboozled 7y ago

Unfortunately the site has been HN'd, maybe give it a rest :)

tda 7y ago

Interesting how the total installed capacity is pretty respectable at 96GW, even though there are only 5 turbines above 5MW. In Europe the 7,5 MW Enercon onshore turbine is fairly common, and offshore the 8-10MW turbines are very much in fashion. For reference, the EU has 179GW installed as of 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_European_Uni...

adventured 7y ago
I'm surprised the US is that close to the EU on installed capacity on a population adjusted basis (~148 GW if you adjust the US population up to the EU population). I'd like to see the US do a lot more with its wind power resources. We've done relatively little with offshore for example (that's only just beginning to see a serious push), while having rather epic offshore potential. The US Department of Energy lists the US with a technical offshore potential of 2,000+ GW.[1] Conveniently the US population is of course also concentrated along the coasts. [1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-offshore-wind-energy-potential https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/computing-america-s-off...
- sverige 7y ago
  The relatively recent political pushback against building turbines on farmland may encourage more of a push to develop offshore turbines. Development there was stopped early on by political resistance to having the gigantic, ugly, bird-killing machines spoiling the scenery.
  - beat 7y ago
    Only when there's an offshore to have. I live in the midwest, the nearest oceanfront is over 1000 miles away. And the "gigantic ugly bird-killing machines" arguments are falling apart quickly in the face of the reality of climate change.
    - sverige 7y ago
      Most wind farms are located far from where the electricity generated is used. For example, Facebook is building a wind farm in Nebraska for facilities in California. The loss in transmitting power that far is ridiculous. Why aren't their wind farms built off the coast of northern California? Wind turbines aren't carbon neutral. Better than coal, sure, but it's interesting that the discussion is always around building these things instead of reducing consumption. But no one gets rich off of reducing consumption.

ejcx 7y ago

Really interesting stuff here. The little cluster in North Carolina is "Amazon Wind Farm US East". I wonder if Amazon announces an electricity play soon, or if it's just related to sustainability efforts? Their use of wind is actually described more here: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/ https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/

dwyerm 7y ago
It is in Amazon's DNA to try not to brag. The US-WEST datacenters are pretty much all hydroelectric, but that says more about the incredibly low costs of hydro power in the area than the environmental benefits of it. The PR boost is nice, but I think for many organizations the switch to renewables is plain old everyday boring economics: Renewables have become cheap and easy to invest in.

beat 7y ago

I wonder if/when solar will catch up with or surpass wind? Part of the reason wind got so big in the past decade is cost - it's significantly cheaper now than fossil or nuclear. But solar costs are dropping even more rapidly than wind, and storage tech is improving (storage being more necessary for solar than wind).

IAmEveryone 7y ago
This[0] says just about now, and you're right that solar has been improving faster than wind (which is probably a function of one being semiconductor technology and the other being generators, where the low-hanging fruits have been harvested a long time ago). Of course there may well be local factors that may still make wind the better choice, and a mixture helps to even out production. So wind turbines aren't going to go out of fashion any time soon. Unlike coal. [0]: https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-are-winning-on-price-alone https://blog.aee.net/the-numbers-are-in-and-renewables-are-w...
- beat 7y ago
  Something I expect to see is a lot more highly localized solar installations - namely parking lots. While I don't think it's financially viable at the home level, I think it'd be great at the office or business level, where there's often large outdoor parking lots. A quick solar panel installation (maybe with some local storage) could power the building. It's the sort of thing where the long-term cost factors are so appealing it might become standard with new construction, and certainly appeals to manufacturers to make easy-install products specifically for this market.
  - IAmEveryone 7y ago
    Something I hope to see a lot less of is parking lots. Eliminate street-level parking in cities, and density could double (in US cities smaller than, say, Chicago). Average distances could be cut in half, making public transport or even biking or walking possible for far more trips than today. "We only need cars because others have cars" isn't entirely true, or there would have never been cars in the first place. But it's not entirely untrue, either.

chromaton 7y ago

This map shows why there's very few turbines in the southeast: https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg https://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg It's just not windy here, except for a few spots.

ubertakter 7y ago
If you look at the wind resource potential around 100m, there are places where it might be feasible to place turbines in areas you don't normally think of as windy, most likely a ridge on the predominately leeward end of a plain. I was a little surprised the first time I heard about the possibility of turbines in the southeast, but in retrospect it makes sense. https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data?category=residential https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data?category=residenti...
ip26 7y ago
Comparing the two I can only marvel at all the untapped opportunity in Wyoming.
- scblock 7y ago
  Wyoming has very low air density, which reduces the power generation potential. It also has a tiny population, limited transmission capacity, difficult terrain, and short building seasons. That said, there are transmission system upgrades for Wyoming coming in 2020. Because of this PacifiCorp released an RFP for up to 1,270 MW of wind generation on this upgraded system and I believe it is already all spoken for.

jwin742 7y ago

Is there a similar page for solar? Would be interesting to compare the two.

LegitShady 7y ago

Everyone talking about wind turbines and I'm just appreciating how fluid the cluster zooming is...I should add mapbox to my list of things to try. Their free tier looks like a good learning tool, or a good gis portal for small porfolio apps.

duckymcduckface 7y ago

As a random aside, is it just me or does the logo that the USGS uses for this project look a lot like the Klingon insignia?