(The Heart Sq.) – Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal to fully transition Connecticut’s electrical grid from counting on oil and fuel by 2040 is again in entrance of state lawmakers.
The invoice would require the state to attain a zero-carbon electrical provide by Jan. 1, 2040, the Hartford Courant reported. That is along with the emissions-reduction targets presently in impact.
Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Vitality Entrepreneurs Affiliation, instructed The Heart Sq. that the invoice could have a laudable aim, but when rushed into, it might lead to the kind of grid failures that ISO New England has beforehand warned about.
“To transform Connecticut’s energy grid to all renewable energy sources, offshore wind is a well-liked possibility for policymakers,” Herb mentioned. “It does not take up land house. Offshore wind tends to be steadier and sooner than onshore wind.”
Herb provides the instance of one of many largest offshore wind energy crops on the planet: the Walney Extension wind farm off the coast of England. The British wind farm has a capability of 659 megawatts and is unfold over roughly 56 sq. miles within the Irish Sea.
“Connecticut’s grid’s present nameplate capability is 10,454 megawatts, so to exchange that, we might want some 15.9 Walney-sized wind farms, which have a lifespan of simply 25 years,” Herb mentioned. “With greater price of supplies as we speak and up to date excessive inflation, for instance the whole price to Connecticut can be $50 billion. This does not embody the prices of decommissioning present pure fuel and nuclear crops, nor the extra price of large battery storage to retailer power when the wind does not blow (as Germany skilled with its wind farms final yr).”
An all-wind farm renewable energy grid shouldn’t be precisely sensible by way of house, both. To place issues in perspective, Herb mentioned, if positioned in Lengthy Island Sound, this is able to imply a wind farm masking each sq. mile of Lengthy Island Sound from the New York border to Rhode Island. It might penetrate from a number of miles into the sound at its narrowest level to over 100 miles at its widest level.
“In actuality, it is possible a number of renewables can be used, from photo voltaic to wind to hydroelectric to nuclear and to biofuels,” Herb mentioned. “Absent any coherent plan, it might be not possible to price out such a fancy melange of renewable energy sources. It’s secure to say that this can price tens of billions of {dollars} that ratepayers will foot the invoice for in greater electrical charges.”
Oil and fuel, Herb mentioned, will not be part of what this invoice envisions as Connecticut’s electrical future.
“It’s arduous to think about that we are able to hold from having blackouts with out utilizing fuel and oil for a few years to return,” Herb mentioned. “That is extraordinarily dangerous and may have nice financial and political penalties if (Connecticut’s Division of Vitality and Environmental Safety and Public Utilities Regulatory Authority) don’t get it precisely proper.”