Groups opposing the development of offshore wind turbines in the Great Lakes are applauding the announcement by Danish energy giant Ørsted that it will cease development of major wind projects off New Jersey.

Ørsted says it will cease development of Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 (aka Sunrise Wind), citing adverse impacts relating to the supply chains, lack of favorable progress on additional investment tax credits exceeding 30%, and generally increased interest rates.

“While Ørsted cites primarily economics for it’s decision, we who oppose any offshore turbines in the Great Lakes are encouraged by this news,” says Michelle Burke, president of the Ohio Marine Trades Association. “While our top concern has been and remains the environmental damage turbines will do to our precious lakes, the Ørsted decision also highlights our other major contention that the industrialization of our lakes will require huge taxpayer subsidies and still result in much higher consumer energy costs. It’s a losing proposition.”

The battle over a plan to locate a half-dozen turbines in Lake Erie off Cleveland has been ongoing for more than a decade. It would be the first freshwater turbine installation in North America. Moreover, the proposal has been billed as “just a demonstration project” in Lake Erie, though the developer eventually revealed the ultimate goal is up to 1,600 turbines in the lake.

Ocean Wind 1 was to be New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm. Last July, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill giving Ørsted a hefty tax break on the project.

“Sure, it always comes down to money,” Burke says. “But we also continue to learn more about the inherent weaknesses of offshore turbines as a reliable energy source, a failure to produce the promised employment numbers offshore installations are touted to deliver, and the lack of complete environmental impact assessments, especially here on our Great Lakes.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau Of Energy Management has designated four new wind energy areas in the Gulf of Mexico. Interestingly, the designation comes on the heels of a first-ever Gulf of Mexico lease sale in August of previously designated areas.

The sale included three lease areas covering more than 300,000 acres: one off Lake Charles, La., and two off Galveston, Texas. However, the sale produced only one winning bid, raising more questions about the economics of offshore wind farms.

The winning bid was from RWE Offshore US Gulf for the Lake Charles lease area. But the $5.6 million bid was a fraction of what was expected based on the billion-dollar bids for East Coast offshore wind leases in the Atlantic. There were no bids for the other two lease areas.

The four Gulf of Mexico wind energy area announced by BOEM are:

• Option J: 495,567 acres approximately 47.2 miles off Texas

• Option K: 119,635 acres approximately 61.5 miles off Texas

• Option L: 91,157 acres approximately 52.9 miles off Texas

• Option N: 56,978 acres approximately 82 miles off Louisiana

Conservation groups are pointing out that while the turbines can be environmental hazards known to catch fire and leak lubricating oils and chemicals into the water, there must be a full study and assessment of the impact of the hundreds of miles of underwater transmission cables required to get power to land.

We can expect a lot more discussion about the potential negative environmental and economic impacts of offshore wind turbines, whether in the Great Lakes or in salt water.