Saving Seafood

US wind energy industry is booming, but tariffs pose a threat

June 11, 2019 — In 2008, Jason Urichich was at a crossroads. He lost his home and landscaping business in Youngstown, Ohio, and decided it was time for a change. He decided to pursue a six-month program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan for wind turbine repair.

“I was really interested in the small turbines, and at home I was trying to build one myself,” Urichich said. “I decided I didn’t know enough about it, and maybe I should go to school for it.”

A decade later that “maybe” turned into a career. He’s now a senior lead technician for Avangrid Renewables’ Locust Ridge Wind Farm in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The company employs some 300 technicians at its 60 commercial-scale wind facilities across the country. With five more under construction, Avangrid Renewables — which provides clean energy to major companies like Nike and Amazon’s AWS — is hiring dozens more nationwide, as demand continues to grow.

Read the full story at MSN

Vineyard Wind project receives key approval in Massachusetts

May 15, 2019 — Vineyard Wind got the approval of Massachusetts authorities to build and operate electric transmission facilities that will deliver 800 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to the regional power grid.

The approval by the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) represents a key milestone in the development of the first commercial-scale offshore wind generation facility in the United States.

“Approval by the Massachusetts EFSB is another affirmation of the collaborative, community-focused approach that Vineyard Wind has taken in designing and developing the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project,” Erich Stephens, chief development officer of Vineyard Wind, said. “We want to thank the residents and officials of the Town of Barnstable who took the time to explore opportunities to address local concerns while simultaneously delivering enough cost-competitive, carbon-free energy to serve six percent of the Commonwealth’s electricity demand, making the project a real win-win-win.”

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved long-term power purchase contracts between Vineyard Wind and Massachusetts’ electric distribution companies in April for the delivery of wind energy.

“Today’s decision is another critical step forward as Vineyard Wind moves toward beginning on-shore construction later this year,” said Laura Beane, president and CEO of Avangrid Renewables, a partner in the Vineyard Wind joint venture. “The future of the American offshore wind energy industry is rising in Massachusetts thanks to the commitment of many stakeholders to deliver competitive solutions to climate change, and we remain committed to delivering environmental benefits and economic opportunity through our investment.”

The project moves forward as the owners seek more than 25 federal, state, and local approval processes. Reviews are still pending from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Army Corps of Engineers, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Cape Cod Commission, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and local conservation commissions.

Read the full story at Daily Energy Insider

Massachusetts wind-power project to move forward despite shutdown

January 25, 2019 — The U.S. Interior Department will press forward with a wind power project during the partial government shutdown using money already granted by Congress, its acting head announced Thursday.

The move could assuage Democrats’ concerns about the Trump administration pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic during the shutdown, which has lasted 34 days.

Avangrid Renewables wants to build an 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts near Martha’s Vineyard. Public meetings on the project were canceled during the shutdown and will be rescheduled, according to acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Wind is generally viewed as an alternative to fossil fuels that is better for the environment because it is renewable, readily available and does not create air emissions.

Read the full story at Reuters

Vineyard Wind execs buoyed by financial report

October 1, 2018 — Top executives with Vineyard Wind were optimistic Thursday about completion dates for their offshore project after a financial report indicated timely permitting by a federal oversight agency.

Vineyard Wind intends to be in operation by 2021, said Laura Beane, president and CEO of Avangrid Renewables, which owns 50 percent of Vineyard Wind.

“We are on schedule,” Beane said in a phone call before her appearance Friday on an offshore energy panel at “The Ocean’s Turn” conference at Tufts University. Joining Beane on the call was Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen, an executive with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which owns the other 50 percent of Vineyard Wind.

“Vineyard Wind will be the very first large-scale offshore facility here in the U.S.,” Beane said. “There’s a tremendous amount of energy and excitement because people see the potential.”

Pedersen, too, said there is “a huge opportunity” for U.S. citizens to become part of an industry that is very mature in Europe and now being moved across the Atlantic.

“Those who get in early have a much better opportunity to be there long-term than those later on, and the opportunities will definitely be there,” he said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

OPINION: Major Offshore Wind Projects Advance in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

May 25, 2018 — Commercial-scale offshore wind power may soon become a reality in New England. On May 23, Massachusetts electric distribution companies selected Vineyard Wind, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, LLC, as the preferred provider of 800 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind generation to the Massachusetts power market, and Rhode Island selected Deepwater Wind as the preferred provider of 400 MW of offshore wind generation to the Rhode Island power market. Both companies propose to generate the electricity from wind projects they intend to construct on federal leases on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts Vineyard Wind Project

In 2017, Massachusetts electricity distribution companies initiated a request for proposals (RFP) process to acquire 400-800 MW of offshore wind. The RFP process is provided for in a series of state laws (collectively known as Section 83C) requiring Massachusetts utilities to enter into long-term contracts for approximately 1,600 MW of offshore wind energy by June 30, 2027. Three companies submitted responses during the RFP process, each submitting multiple bids to provide different options.

On May 23, Vineyard Wind’s proposal to build an array of about 100 8-MW turbines (for a total capacity of approximately 800 MW), capable of supplying 5.5-6% of Massachusetts’ energy needs, won the RFP process. According to the proposal, power will be transmitted from the offshore wind facility through an undersea cable to Cape Cod, where it will tie in with existing transmission and substation infrastructure. The project also will incorporate distributed battery energy storage that would provide benefits to low-income residents and public buildings by establishing a “Resiliency and Affordability Fund” in partnership with Citizens Energy. Vineyard Wind would contribute $15 million to the fund over 15 years, with the objectives of fostering the “wide deployment of distributed battery energy storage,” providing credits to low-income ratepayers, and helping to implement energy storage and solar energy projects at public buildings.

Read the full opinion piece at The National Review

 

Tricia Jedele: Offshore wind rush is irresponsible

May 21, 2018 — In an April opinion piece, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wrote that “affordable, reliable, and abundant American energy drives domestic jobs and prosperity.” If by “drives domestic jobs and prosperity” Zinke meant “threatens the very existence of New England fishermen,” then the East Farm Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island (which represents Rhode Island commercial fishermen) would agree.

Right now, Zinke’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is reviewing a construction and operation plan submitted by Vineyard Wind. Vineyard Wind is a project company owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, a company based in the industrial port city of Bilbao, Spain. These companies plan to install a massive offshore wind project in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  In the first phase of the project alone, according to the plan, Vineyard Wind will install between 88 and 106 wind turbine generators, up to four electrical service platforms, 156.4 nautical miles of cable, and up to three offshore export cables that are each 122.5 nautical miles long. And this is just the first project.

There are two other project companies also vying for state contracts and state and federal approvals. Deepwater Wind’s Revolution Wind could be built off the Massachusetts’ coast at various sizes up to 400 megawatts in its first phase.  Bay State Wind, a 50-50 joint venture between Ørsted (a company based in Denmark) and Eversource Energy, is a proposed offshore wind project located 25 miles off the Massachusetts’ coast and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard with the potential to build up to 2,000 megawatts of wind power in the area.  Combined and fully developed, these projects could install more than 500 turbines in the waters off Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

 

Massachusetts: Fishing industry reps express offshore wind resistance

April 11, 2018 — Fishing industry representatives from all along the East Coast sent an urgent missive to Governor Charlie Baker on Monday, asking him to delay this month’s selection of the company that will construct the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The National Coalition of Fishing Communities (NCFC) cites three key concerns: the project size, the lack of study on potential impacts, and a lack of communication with the fishing industry from potential developers.

Three companies have bid to construct wind farms in the ocean south of Martha’s Vineyard, as part of a roughly 1,600-megawatt procurement mandated by a 2016 energy diversification law.

One of the companies, Vineyard Wind, has proposed projects capable of generating 400 megawatts or 800 megawatts. Vineyard Wind is a partnership between Vineyard Power, Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.

There are two other companies in the running: Deepwater Wind, which built America’s first offshore wind farm near Block Island, R.I., and Bay State Wind, a partnership between Denmark-based Ørsted and Eversource.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

 

Feds begin environmental review of Vineyard Wind

April 3, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The federal government is gathering public comments for an environmental report on the Vineyard Wind offshore wind proposal.

Five public meetings are scheduled this month in New Bedford, Vineyard Haven, Nantucket, Hyannis, and at the University of Rhode Island.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to prepare an environmental impact statement on Vineyard Wind’s construction and operations plan. Vineyard Wind, a partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, has proposed an 800-megawatt project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The project could include up to 106 wind turbines, beginning about 14 miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard.

A 30-day comment period runs through Monday, April 30.