Congressman Says Wind Turbines Affect Radar, Fed Says Otherwise

From The Desk Of Congressman Jefferson Van Drew

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Van Drew (R-2nd) issued the following statement after the Pentagon sounded the alarms on how the development of offshore wind farms will affect our national security.

“During my field hearing in South Jersey last month, my colleagues and I highlighted the adverse effects offshore wind development would have on various sectors and industries, from our environment to our national security,” said Congressman Van Drew. “When whales and dolphins started washing up on our coast, and I called for a moratorium on these projects until adequate investigations were held, it was met with severe opposition. When fishermen indicat- ed their concerns with how these projects will affect their livelihoods, their concerns were pushed aside.

When I highlighted how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) own environmental impact statement admitted that offshore wind will have no impact on climate change, there was no response from the administration. When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) OWN scientist raised concerns with how these projects could affect the endangered right whale, he was ignored. And when my hearing revealed that these massive turbines could interfere with radar systems and highlighted the warnings from our own military, this administration continued full steam ahead.

“These warnings can no longer be ignored. This President and this administration continue to disregard these valid concerns, and now the Pentagon is reiterating the potential impacts the industrialization of our coast will have on our national security. We need to put America first and we need a moratorium on these projects before it is far too late.”

Government Plans To Mitigate

The U.S. Department of Energy has already studied the impact of wind turbines on radar in 2014 and again in 2023. They have released plans for how to reduce the problem, including:

• Designing the wind farm layout to minimize the impacted area of radar coverage or to allow for maximum radar coverage within the project, such as by increasing the spacing between turbines within the project

Terrain masking, or placing turbines on the opposite side of elevated terrain in relation to the radar so they will be blocked from view

• Relocating proposed turbines or reducing their height so that they fall outside the radar line of sight

• Eliminating proposed turbines located in areas that result in high radar interfer- ence impacts.

Siting alone may not eliminate impacts or reduce them to an acceptable level. In these cases, other mitigation techniques, including the deployment of new radar-related software upgrades and/or hardware, can also reduce potential wind energy impacts on radar operations. Examples include:

• Adding infill radars in or around the wind project to maintain existing radar coverage

Modifying the existing radar system software’s constant false alarm rates, clutter maps, or other filtering and/or preliminary tracking routines

• Upgrading the hardware or software of the affected radar to implement advanced filtering techniques that can remove interference from turbines.

In most cases, siting and other mitigations have resolved conflicts and allowed wind projects to co-exist effectively with radar missions.

For more information, visit windexchange.energy.gov/projects/radar-interference-review-process.