May 18, 2021 — Beyond the Biden administration’s sunny outlook on prospects for a new U.S. offshore wind power industry, concerns continue among federal government experts about how building ocean turbine arrays could affect the fishing industry and protecting endangered whales.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its final record of decision May 11 to permit Vineyard Wind, the 800-megawatt project off southern New England that would be the first truly utility-scale development in U.S. waters.
So far, the only offshore wind operating here is at two pilot projects, the five-turbine, 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, twin turbines with 12 MW total capacity. With nearly three decades of offshore wind experience in Europe, companies based there are exporting their expertise to the U.S.
But the Vineyard Wind plan as outlined in the BOEM decision document – a grid layout of 62 turbines spaced at 1-nautical-mile intervals – is so unnerving to some mobile gear fishermen that they may abandon fishing in the area, according to Army Corps of Engineers.
Commercial fishermen, led by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, had advocated 4-nm-wide vessel transit lanes, which they contend would enhance safety.