Off Shore Wind Farm, Here We Come?

Humboldt County's potential wind farm has been a hot topic of discussion for what seems like a decade now, but things do seem to be coming together at last. Earlier this week the Humboldt Association of Realtors held a general membership meeting where the Humboldt Bay Harbor District gave a detailed presentation on our potential off shore wind farm. There was a ton of information, so much so that it's impossible for me to convey it all to you, so I'll just go over a few highlights. If you would like to see the full presentation, click on this link to see the hour long video

--> Off Shore Wind Farm Presentation

In the diagram below you can see an example of how our potential wind farm could look. Given the depth of the Pacific just off our coastline, the turbines wouldn't be able to be affixed to the ocean floor like they are along the east coast. Instead, they would have to be installed on top of a floating foundation, which would then be tethered to the ocean floor by mooring lines. These turbines would be connected to an offshore substation, which would then be connected to an onshore substation.

These turbines would be around 800 feet tall, which is about four times the size of the last remaining smoke stack on the peninsula! Given the enormous size of these turbines, they would have to be attached to their floating base, and then towed out to their final location. This requirement is one of the many reasons why Humboldt's coastline is the best option for this project. As you can see in the picture to the right, these turbines would never be able to make it underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, which knocks the Bay Area out of contention.

The barge that these turbines rest upon has to be equally as big. In the photo to the left, you can see the massive size of these floating foundations in comparison to the Arcata Plaza. Each leg of the triangle would be roughly 425 feet long so that the base is wide enough to ensure the turbine doesn't topple over. The magnitude of these wind catching green machines is of concern to some, and for good reason, because who wants our beautiful ocean views disrupted by giant metal structures?

But do not fret! The actual location of the wind farm would be about 20 miles off the coast, so you would have a pretty hard time seeing the turbines with the naked eye even on a crystal clear day. Another concern is how these developments would affect our local sea life. So far all surveys and research indicate that the only real problem would come from lost fishing nets getting caught on the mooring lines, which could then entangle certain ocean life. As a precaution, they would install sensors on the mooring lines that would alert personnel if a net does get caught on the lines.

The diagram above illustrates the manufacturing and assembly area which would be located just east of the town of Samoa. In my opinion this is the most exciting aspect of this project as it would create new local jobs as well pumping new life into this 180 acre parcel of vacated land. When our timber industry fizzled out decades ago it left behind countless dilapidated buildings and facilities which we all hoped would be put to use one day. We even held out hope that the legalization of cannabis would contribute to the revitalization of some of these sites, but to no avail (well, kind of, there are a handful of commercial buildings in Eureka that were rejuvenated for cannabis use that would have otherwise been left in various states of disrepair). I have long been a believer of highest and best use for developed land, and this proposed project would catapult this site into the stratosphere of highest and best use. There's still a ton of hurdles that need to be cleared before any ground is broken, but it does seem as though we are on the right path, and personally, I'm very excited to see what the future holds for our coastal community!

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