​How visible would the proposed Humboldt offshore wind farm be from the coast?

Any offshore wind turbines built in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA) (1) would be more than 20 miles from shore. Once installed in the offshore WEA, any sight of turbines will be obscured by coastal haze on most days, and, on very clear days, the turbines may be visible on the horizon, particularly from high points like Trinidad Head. On clear nights, blinking red lights placed on top of the turbines to keep aircraft safe may be visible. Some onshore wind turbines use an Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS) (2) or “Demand Oriented Lighting” (3), which senses when aircraft come within a certain distance from a wind turbine and automatically turns on. Vineyard Offshore (4), one of the developers of the Humboldt WEA, has incorporated an ADLS into its Vineyard Wind (5) project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. For that project, Vineyard Wind anticipates that the ADLS will limit the use of warning lights to less than four hours per year (6).

Take a look below at visualizations of the proposed offshore wind turbines (7) as seen from Sue-meg State Park, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM):

MORNING

Visualization of the proposed Humboldt offshore wind farm from Sue-meg State Park in the morning. Source: BOEM (7)

MIDDAY

Visualization of the proposed Humboldt offshore wind farm from Sue-meg State Park at midday. Source: BOEM (7)

LATE AFTERNOON

Visualization of the proposed Humboldt offshore wind farm from Sue-meg State Park in the late afternoon. Source: BOEM (7)

NIGHT

Visualization of the proposed Humboldt offshore wind farm from Sue-meg State Park at night. Source: BOEM (7)

Click here to learn more about what the wind turbines would look like while under construction and in storage within Wigi (8)/Humboldt Bay.

References​

1. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (n.d.). Humboldt Wind Energy Area. www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/humboldt-wind-energy-area

2. Deutsche Windtechnik. (2024). Aircraft Detection Lighting System (ADLS). www.deutsche-windtechnik.com/us/services/onshore-services/aircraft-detection-lighting-system-adls/

3. Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP. (2024). Demand-oriented lighting. www.ibp.fraunhofer.de/en/projects-references/demand-oriented-lighting.html 

4. Vineyard Offshore. (n.d.). www.vineyardoffshore.com/ 

5. Vineyard Wind. (n.d.). Nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project. www.vineyardwind.com/vineyardwind-1 

6. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (2021, March). Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Wind Energy Project Final Environmental Impact Statement: Volume II. www.boem.gov/sites/default/files/documents/renewable-energy/state-activities/Vineyard-Wind-1-FEIS-Volume-2.pdf 

7. Goff, A. (2023, August 1). (PHOTO) Here’s What the Government Says an Offshore Wind Project Would Look Like From Humboldt’s Shores. Lost Coast Outpost. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/aug/1/photo-heres-what-offshore-wind-would-look-humboldt/ 

8. Wiyot Tribe. (n.d.). Wiyot Placename Video [Video]. www.wiyot.us/162/Wiyot-Placename-Video