Baryonyx Corporation has withdrawn its permit application from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for an 18 MW Gulf Offshore Wind (GOWind) project off the coast of South Padre Island, Texas.
Audubon Texas, an organization for conservation of natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife, stated that “millions of migratory birds that pass over south Texas each year caught a break” with the application withdrawal.
“An off-shore wind farm in this region would sandwich some of the most critical migratory and wintering shorebird, waterfowl, and colonial water bird habitat in the world between two wind farms, causing mortality, disturbance, and displacement to millions of birds, and destroying pristine and protected habitat with transmission infrastructure. These cumulative effects could have broad-reaching ecological impacts,” the organization said.
The GOWind project, which would have comprised three Siemens’ 6 MW wind turbines with lattice jacket foundations, would have ultimately led to building a large-scale commercial wind farm.