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BOEM to hold public meetings for proposed offshore wind farm

October 30, 2018 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) says it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Deepwater Wind that would allow it to construct and operate up to 15 turbines, an electric service platform offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and an export cable to East Hampton, New York.

Comments may be submitted until November 19, 2018 by either of the following two methods:

  • Federal eRulemaking Portal: In the entry titled “Enter Keyword or ID,” enter BOEM– 2018-0010, and then click “search.”  Follow the instructions to submit public comments and view supporting and related materials available for this notice.
  • U.S.  Postal Service or other delivery service.  Send your comments and information to the following address:

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Office of Renewable Energy Programs
45600 Woodland Road (VAM-OREP)
Sterling, Virginia 20166

BOEM’s scoping process is intended to identify any important issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the Deepwater Wind COP EIS. Throughout the scoping process, there will be multiple opportunities to help BOEM determine significant resources (e.g. avian, marine mammals) and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures to be analyzed in the EIS.

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development

Ocean wind has big week, fishermen need to step up

October 29, 2018 — Last week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced three major developments in American offshore wind energy that set the table for fishermen engagement through public comment on plans. Two of the announcements impact fishermen in Rhode Island and Massachusetts directly.

Last Friday the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a Notice of Intent to prepare/review an Environmental Impact Statement (ESI) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the South Fork Wind Farm project off Massachusetts and Rhode Island being developed by Deepwater Wind.

If approved, the plan would allow construction and operation of up to 15 turbines that connect via a transmission cable to a grid in East Hampton, New York — the east end of Long Island. The project is approximately 19 miles southeast of Block Island. The notice will have a 30-day public comment period closing on November 19.

“The public will have the opportunity to review the Construction and Operations Plan and provide input to BOEM at three community meetings to be held in East Hampton, Rhode Island, and in Massachusetts, or through written comment,” Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind said. “We’re on-track to begin construction on the South Fork Wind Farm once the EIS and permits are in-hand, by 2021, and to deliver clean energy to the South Fork starting in 2022.”

An open house will be held at the Narragansett Community Center, at 53 Munford Road in Narragansett, RI, on Thursday, Nov. 8. In New Bedford, the meeting will be Wednesday, November 7 at UMass-Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology East, located at 836 South Rodney French Boulevard. Both open houses are from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session starting at 6 p.m. For copies of the plans and information on how to comment online, by mail or for information on the Long Island meeting, visit https://www.boem.gov/South-Fork/.

In a second development last week, Secretary Zink announced a much-anticipated wind auction in federal waters off the coast of Massachusetts which will take place on December 19. And, the third announcement pertained to the next steps to the first-ever wind auction in federal waters off California.

Read the full story at The Sun Chronicle

Federal Environmental Review Begins for Deepwater Wind

October 25, 2018 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on plans by Deepwater Wind to develop the South Fork Wind Farm roughly 30 miles off the coast of Montauk.

BOEM will lead the federal review of Deepwater Wind’s proposal to construct up to 15 wind turbines as a part of its South Fork Wind Farm Project. The New York State Public Service Commission will lead the state review of the project.

According to a press release issued by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the notice was published in the Federal Register on October 19 and will have a 30-day public comment period that will close on November 19.

“The U.S. is making offshore wind a major priority for our energy future. The South Fork Wind Farm, New York’s first offshore wind farm, will be a centerpiece of that vision,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski in a statement. “Starting the EIS review is a major step forward for the South Fork Wind Farm and an important milestone. This extensive review will examine the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) and related environmental considerations.

“The public will have the opportunity to review the COP and to provide their input to BOEM at three community meetings held in East Hampton, in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts, or through written comment. Our timeline is right on-schedule. We’re on-track to begin construction on the South Fork Wind Farm once the EIS and permits are in-hand, by 2021, and to deliver clean energy to the South Fork starting in 2022.”

Read the full story at Sag Harbor Express

Interior agency advances offshore wind on both coasts

October 24, 2018 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is taking steps that could lead to offshore wind farms along the East and West coasts.

BOEM on Oct. 19 asked companies to indicate their interest in developing three areas off the coast of California. BOEM is part of the Department of the Interior.

The parcels off California’s central and northern coastline total about 687,825 acres, but BOEM said it would consider changing the size of areas eligible for wind leases. BOEM delineated the areas in consultation with an interagency task force and the state of California.

BOEM this year received an unsolicited lease request from the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, which is leading an effort to develop a wind farm offshore Humboldt County, according to the agency.

In March, the RCEA, a joint powers agency, selected a group of companies to develop the offshore project, including Principle Power, EDPR Offshore North America, Aker Solutions, H.T. Harvey & Associates and Herrera Environmental Consultants. The group aims to bring the wind farm into service in 2025.

Also, in early 2016, BOEM received an unsolicited lease request from Trident Winds for a project off Morro Bay, according to the agency.

Read the full story at Public Power

 

Vineyard Wind Signs Milestone Lease Deal With Massachusetts

October 23, 2018 — Massachusetts’ Baker-Polito administration and Vineyard Wind have announced a lease agreement to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging and deployment location for Vineyard Wind’s offshore development.

In May, an 800 MW offshore wind farm proposed by Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, was selected as the winning bid under Massachusetts’ 83C offshore wind solicitation.

Constructed and operated by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is a 29-acre heavy-lift facility designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container and large specialty marine cargo. The new agreement between MassCEC and Vineyard Wind represents a commitment to an 18-month lease at $6 million annually.

“By signing this lease agreement with Vineyard Wind, we have achieved another major milestone to secure long-term jobs and economic growth for the people of Massachusetts,” says Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “Establishing an offshore wind supply chain in Massachusetts is critical to our mission to strengthen our economy while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.”

In April, MassCEC released a report on the workforce needs and economic impact of the emerging offshore wind industry. It found that the deployment of 1,600 MW of offshore wind is estimated to support 6,870-9,850 job years over the next 10 years and generate a total economic impact in Massachusetts of $1.4 billion-$2.1 billion.

“The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal provides Massachusetts with an important piece of infrastructure that will be critical in helping the offshore wind industry to establish operations in this new American marketplace,” says Stephen Pike, CEO of MassCEC.

“Today’s announcement not only cements Vineyard Wind’s commitment to stage the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind project from the Port of New Bedford, but it reinforces New Bedford’s leadership position in offshore wind energy,” adds New Bedford’s mayor, Jon Mitchell.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

BOEM requires transit corridors for offshore wind energy areas

October 22, 2018 — The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is requiring offshore wind energy developers to set aside vessel transit corridors, amid intense discussions with the commercial fishing industry.

In a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the agency announced it would offer an additional 390,000 acres south of Massachusetts for lease on Dec. 13. That would extend large areas already leased from Block Island, R.I., to south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The BOEM notice includes a new requirement for planning safe transit lanes through future arrays of turbine towers on the shallow continental shelf.

“The fishing industry has raised concerns with the ability to safely transit the existing and offered leases, particularly with their ability to quickly and safely return to port during inclement weather,” agency officials wrote.

At a Sept. 20 meeting in Massachusetts, Coast Guard officials and fishing industry groups proposed transit lanes through the leases to BOEM and wind developers Baystate Wind, Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind (since merged with Norwegian energy company Equinor, formerly known as Statoil).

“Representatives from the squid, groundfish, scallop, and other fisheries agreed that the two nautical-mile-wide transit corridors through the existing leases would provide the ability to safely transit to and from the fishing grounds. BOEM expects these, or similar, transit corridors to be finalized in the near future, and future lessees will be required to incorporate them into their plans,” the lease sale notice states.

Read the full story at Work Boat   

 

CALIFORNIA: U.S. Department of Interior soliciting interest in developing Central Coast offshore wind farms

October 19, 2018 — The U.S. Department of the Interior is taking public comment on two possible areas for wind farms on the Central Coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting interest in three sites off the California coast for potential wind development. One section would stretch from Cambria to San Simeon approximately 32 miles offshore, while a second site sits offshore the present Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

The third area for potential wind development in California is near Humboldt Bay. Much of California’s coastline is otherwise off-limits to offshore wind farms.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is accepting interest from companies who want to develop the wind sites. A 100-day public comment period is also open until January 27.

The administration hopes that will lead to the West Coast’s first offshore wind auction.

Trident Winds, a German company, has already expressed interest in the Morro Bay site. Trident has proposed building roughly 100 floating wind turbines that would generate enough power for 300,000 homes.

Read the full story at KSBY

Trump administration to hold Massachusetts offshore wind auction in December

October 19, 2018 — Nearly 400,000 acres of the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area will be up for grabs in December, as the Trump administration holds its next offshore wind auction, officials announced this week.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke revealed Wednesday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction off 388,569 acres located on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts on Dec. 13.

A total of 19 companies — including Deepwater Wind New England, LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Northeast Wind Energy, LLC, among others — have qualified to take part in the auction, according to the agency’s final sale notice.

The bureau will auction off three leases that are located in an area where two former leases were unsold during the Atlantic Wind Lease Sale in January 2015. The new lease areas will respectively cover about 129,000 acres, 127,000 acres and 132,000 acres.

Zinke touted the December auction, offering that “the Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity.”

“If fully developed, the wind auction could support approximately 4.1 gigawatts of power to supply nearly 1.5 million homes,” he said in a statement. “This is just one example of the importance of fostering wind energy as a new American industry.”

Read the full story at MassLive

Offshore wind farms planned on East and West coasts

October 19, 2018 — The U.S. government is taking steps to develop offshore wind farms off both coasts.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced this week the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an offshore wind auction Dec. 13 for nearly 390,000 acres (157,831 hectares) of ocean off Massachusetts.

Zinke said the area, if fully developed, could supply power to nearly 1.5 million homes.

He also announced the bureau is opening its environmental review of a 15-turbine project off Long Island, New York, proposed by Deepwater Wind, operators of the nation’s lone commercial wind farm off Rhode Island.

And in California, Zinke announced the bureau is seeking comment on possible areas for wind development off the state’s central and northern coasts.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

MASSACHUSETTS: Feds see much potential in state’s offshore wind

October 19, 2018 — The federal government plans in December to hold an offshore wind auction featuring 390,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts, an area that officials say could provide enough power to serve 1.5 million homes.

“The Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement after announcing plans for the Dec. 13 auction while addressing the American Wind Energy Association’s Offshore Wind Conference on Wednesday in Washington.

The federal government has previously leased waters off the coast of Massachusetts for offshore wind development and one of those leaseholders, Vineyard Wind, was selected by state and utility officials to build an 800-megawatt commercial wind energy installation south of Martha’s Vineyard.

On March 30, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its notice to prepare an environmental impact statement for the construction and operations plan submitted by Vineyard Wind.

Read the full story at The Salem News