Saving Seafood

Interior defends Virginia offshore wind farm in court

May 7, 2024 — The Biden administration and the developer of a $9.8 billion wind farm off of Virginia Beach, Virginia, assured a federal court Friday that the project has all necessary approvals, amid claims that construction would harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The joint court filing from the Interior Department and Dominion Energy comes in response to a request to halt work on the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is slated to include 176 turbines and is the largest project of its kind currently under development in the United States.

Dominion and Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management filed their response following an order from Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking clarity on whether NOAA Fisheries — which handles Endangered Species Act consultations for marine life — had approved mitigation plans to protect the vulnerable right whale.

Read the full story at E&E News

8 Gulf of Maine sites picked for possible commercial offshore wind leases

May 2, 2024 — The federal government is proposing eight areas in the Gulf of Maine as possible sites for commercial offshore wind farms.

The proposed lease areas cover about 1 million acres and have the potential to generate 15 gigawatts of energy, enough to power five million homes, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Tuesday.

Two of the sites, encompassing nearly 254,000 acres, are off the Maine coast. The remaining six are located off Massachusetts.

In choosing the lease sites, BOEM said it wanted to avoid offshore fishing grounds and transit routes for ships. The eight proposed sites represent about half of the 2 million acres that BOEM chose as its “final wind energy area” for the Gulf of Maine, which the agency announced last month.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Dominion Energy says court challenge not delaying Virginia wind project

May 2, 2024 — A coalition of groups opposing the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project was in a Washington, D.C. federal court this week, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop construction work in May. 

Conservative activist groups the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sued Dominion Energy and the Biden administration over federal permits for the planned 2.6 gigawatt project of 176 turbines.

The plaintiffs claim the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and other federal agencies “have not done the legally required research to determine the project won’t harm the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale,” according to a Heartland Institute statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan called on lawyers for Dominion, the government and plaintiffs to file more papers and responses by May 9, before she rules on the groups’ request for a preliminary injunction.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

BOEM Proposes Offshore Wind Area Auctions in Gulf of Mexico and Oregon

May 2, 2024 — The U.S. Department of the Interior took its next steps in the aggressive plans to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy in the U.S. They released proposals for two new wind areas off the coast of Oregon and in the Gulf of Maine which they said combined could provide 18 GW of energy. It however includes more controversial areas especially along the Oregon coast.

The Biden Administration highlights that it has already approved eight offshore sites with a combined capacity of more than 10 GW, which they said will power nearly four million homes. They are also continuing the lengthy review process for additional proposals after having conducted four auctions including the New York Bight, offshore of the Carolina, and the first sales off the coast of California, and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Today’s proposals include eight lease areas offshore Marine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Combined it represents nearly one million acres in the Gulf of Maine and the potential for 15 GW. The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to conduct simultaneous auctions for each of the eight lease areas. Before finalizing the plan, they said they are seeking feedback on various aspects including the size of the lease areas, orientation, and location. They are also looking for input if any areas should be prioritized for inclusion or exclusion.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Activists seek lockdown on New England wind project

April 28, 2024 — A Rhode Island-based environmental group asked a federal court to freeze work on the Revolution Wind project, saying the plans require a new biological opinion on potential effects on endangered sei and fin whales.

Green Oceans filed its original lawsuit in January challenging the southern New England offshore wind project.  On April 18 the group’s lawyers were back at U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s court in Washington, D.C., with a motion to stay all permits and approvals for the project.

The activists say they made their move because the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources reinitiated a required consultation under the Endangered Species Act.

Originally issued by NOAA in July 2023, the ESA process was restarted because of

“insufficient protections for the endangered sei and fin whales and for two species of endangered turtles,” Green Oceans said in a statement. “The Biological Opinion, a required element for the approval and construction of any offshore wind project, is a comprehensive assessment of the anticipated impacts on marine animals during the life of the project, from construction to decommissioning.”

Read the full article at Workboat

Biden administration announces plans for up to 12 lease sales for offshore wind energy

April 25, 2024 — A new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production was announced Wednesday by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028.

Haaland announced the plan at a conference in New Orleans.

Under the plan outlined Wednesday, which includes some previously announced lease auctions, three of the anticipated sales would be for Gulf of Mexico tracts to be offered this year, in 2025 and in 2027. Central Atlantic area leases would be sold in 2024 and 2026.

Other anticipated sale areas include the Gulf of Maine (2024 and 2028); Oregon waters (2024); an area of the Atlantic known as New York Bight (2027); and California, Hawaii, and an as-yet unspecified U.S. territory (2028).

The sales will be coordinated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

ICYMI: Secretary Haaland Announces New Five-Year Offshore Wind Leasing Schedule

April 24, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

In remarks at the International Partnering Forum conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year offshore wind leasing schedule, which includes up to 12 potential offshore wind energy lease sales through 2028. Future offshore wind energy lease sales from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are anticipated in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and the waters offshore of the U.S. territories in the next five years. The leasing schedule includes four potential offshore lease sales in 2024, one each in 2025 and 2026, two in 2027, and four in 2028. More information can be found on BOEM’s website.

Offshore wind sparks new lawsuits

April 18, 2024 — A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and three other federal agencies for an offshore wind project off the coast of Rhode Island.

Non-partisan, Rhode Island-based Green Oceans has filed the lawsuit, claiming the bureau has broken the law by giving Danish energy company Orsted permits for their South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects.

Dr Lisa Quattrocki Knight, the president and co-founder of Green Oceans, said their lawsuit is about where these wind farms will be located — at Coxes Ledge off the Rhode Island coast.

“It is an incredibly biodiverse marine ecosystem that NOAA designated in November as a habitat of particular concern because it is one of the last remaining spawning grounds for southern New England Cod,” Quattrocki Knight said. “And is a winter foraging region for five endangered whale species. Nothing should ever have been developed on Coxes Ledge and yet they have gone ahead and permitted these two projects.”

Read the full story at WSHU

 

BOEM Approves Eighth Offshore Wind Farm Surpassing Third of U.S. Goal

April 3, 2024 — Regulatory efforts continue to accelerate pushing forward with the plans to develop the U.S. offshore wind energy sector. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the eighth large offshore wind farm for the U.S. surpassing 10 GW of approved capacity and the ability to power nearly 4 million homes.

The federal Record of Decision was issued to Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, for its two-phase New England Wind project. The decision comes a little over a month after BOEM completed the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The final step in the federal process is anticipated for July 2024 with the approval of its Construction and Operations Plan.

The proposal calls for the development of a project comprising 129 wind turbines, with up to five offshore export cables. They are proposing to bring the power ashore in Barnstable and Bristol County, Massachusetts. Last week, Avangrid submitted proposals in the coordinated wind solicitation between Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The states plan to announce the selected projects in August with Avangrid highlighting that New England Wind is an advanced project and “shovel-ready” set to proceed quickly once the approvals are in place

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Fishing industry reels over Biden’s destructive wind farm plan: It’s ‘coming at us from every direction’

March 27, 2024 — Time is running out for fishermen and women in the Northeast who fear their industry is being put at risk by the Biden administration’s renewable energy agenda.

“Ground fishermen, lobstermen, whatever you are, you’re under the microscope right now, and it just seems to be something coming at us from every direction,” New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) COO Dustin Delano said on “The Big Money Show” Monday.

“And with this offshore wind agenda out there to attempt to fight climate change,” he continued, “it’s almost like environmentalists and different folks are willing to destroy the environment to protect the environment.”

Two weeks ago, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency within the Department of Interior, announced the finalization of what is known as a wind energy area (WEA), which is an area of the ocean that would allot for construction of enough wind turbines to produce 32 gigawatts (GW) of energy.

Read the full article at FOX Business