Power transmission: Where the offshore wind energy comes home

How Are Tourists Affected By Offshore Wind Turbines? A Case Study Of The First U.S. Offshore Wind Farm

“…Previous literature has found that offshore wind farms are visual disamenities, especially when they are closer to shore (Firestone et al, 2018;Fooks et al, 2017;Krueger et al, 2011b;Landry et al, 2012a;Lilley et al, 2010a). However, the Block Island wind farm is only 3.8 miles from the shore, and yet our study does not find proof of significant visual disamenity.…”

“…The impact of having seen the turbines in person on WTP is positive and statistically significant for fishing and boating, with respondents willing to pay $20.91 more for a boating route and $9.47 for a fishing location with a view of the turbines than without one. This finding conflicts with the stated preference studies that find wind farms to be a visual disamenity in other contexts (Bishop & Miller, 2007;Firestone, et al, 2018;Fooks et al, 2017;Krueger et al, 2011b;Ladenburg, 2009;Ladenburg & Dubgaard, 2007;Landry et al, 2012a;Lilley et al, 2010a), but is consistent with evidence from Block Island in particular. Since turbine construction, ferries and charter boats have added trip options to see the turbines up close and the wind farm is a popular option for recreational fishing (Smythe et al, 2018;Tenbrink & Dalton, 2018).…”

“…1 Studies in Europe have found that the magnitude of disamenity is large but decreases with distance (Bishop & Miller, 2007;Ladenburg, 2009;Ladenburg & Dubgaard, 2007). Within the U.S., while both coastal residents and tourists have exhibited a preference for wind farms to be located at least 4 -9 miles off the shore (Krueger et al, 2011a;Landry et al, 2012b;Lilley et al, 2010b), they have shown considerable support for smaller scale projects (25 -30 MW) up to distances as close as 3 miles (Bates & Firestone, 2015;Firestone, et al, 2018). In a similar vein, our study attempts to analyze the perceptions of tourists engaged in several recreational activities around the small scale offshore wind project at Block Island.…”

“…The literature has found an immense backing for the Block Island wind farm, which has been attributed to several reasons. First, there is general support on the part of coastal residents in Rhode Island and Block Island towards wind power and clean energy (Firestone, et al, 2018). Second, Block Island residents hold consumptive beliefs of the ocean, viewing it as a source of food, energy, and commerce (Bidwell, 2017).…”

“…The considerable time lag between onshore (1980) and offshore (2016) wind power in the United States can be attributed to two main factors: substantially higher costs of offshore wind generation and local opposition (Lutzeyer et al, 2018). One of the major sources of the opposition by local communities stems from the perceived disruption of ocean views by turbines (Firestone et al, 2018). For instance, developer Cape Wind's plan to erect over 100 offshore wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts, was toppled in part due to the opposition by property owners concerned about their view of the ocean (Bragg, 2018).…”