Saving Seafood

MAINE: DMR scientist to address climate change challenges in nearshore waters

January 5, 2022 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) Public Health Bureau has hired Meredith White, Ph.D., to lead a department program that supports coastal municipalities and harvesters as they confront climate change in Maine’s nearshore waters.

White’s hiring coincides with a recent name change that more accurately reflects the work of what was previously called the Shellfish Management Program and is now called the Nearshore Marine Resources Program.

“This program has evolved over time to include far more than just the management of softshell clams,” said DMR Public Health Bureau Director Kohl Kanwit. “Scientists in this program manage all species of clams, oysters, and mussels as well as other important species including seaweed, marine worms, periwinkles, and whelks. The change in name better encompasses all the existing responsibilities of this program.”

“This new senior scientist position and two supporting scientist positions were created by the administration and legislature to address new and dynamic challenges confronting municipalities and harvesters caused by climate change,” said Kanwit.

Read the full article at Boothbay Register

New funding to study shifting surf clams, potential fishing devaluation from offshore wind

January 4, 2022 — An effort to map changing surf clam habitat off the East Coast is among four new research projects to be funded in 2023 with $235,000 from the non-profit Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS).

SCEMFIS approved the funding at annual fall meeting, doling out an overall $109,000 increase in funding from the $126,000 the center approved for the 2022 funding year.

Projects are chosen for funding by members of the Center’s Industry Advisory Board, and with an eye to addressing the highest priorities in finfish and shellfish science. This year’s projects research new methods to chart the habitat overlap between ocean quahogs and surfclams; test better ways to analyze the diets of important predator species in the Gulf of Mexico; examine the financial impact of wind farm development on Northeast fisheries; and design a new, experimental clam dredge.

Clam resource distribution, a GIS summary: As the waters off the U.S. coast continue to warm, surf clams continue to move into deeper, formerly colder waters, causing an overlap in habitat with ocean quahogs, creating a problem for fishermen and regulators as two formerly separate fisheries begin to overlap.

This project funded at $19,719 and led by professor Roger Mann at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science, will develop GIS information charting this overlap using historical survey and fishing data, use temperature data to determine the influence of climate change over time, and use these data sets to project future surf clam migration.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Offshore wind in 2022: Billions in bids and new confidence

December 28, 2022 — Offshore wind advanced at a dizzying pace in 2022, from billion-dollar bids in New York to turbine installation vessels arriving in New England waters.

The landmark year buoyed confidence in investment in the U.S. market and saw the expansion of federal tax benefits — along with an increased government workforce — to support wind growth. Insiders continued to express confidence in the industry despite looming economic headwinds that threaten to slow the pace of President Joe Biden’s wind boom in the years ahead.

The White House’s commitment to raising turbines in the ocean, to reach a 30-gigawatt target by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes, fueled much of the growth seen over the last 12 months.

In February, energy companies pledged $4.4 billion for wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, the largest offshore energy sale in U.S. history.

The Biden administration would go on to hold its first auction in the Pacific Ocean and commit to raising 15 GW of floating offshore wind, a developing technology that’s needed to build wind farms in deep water.

“The momentum continues for the offshore wind sector,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. “The government has done a good job of keeping things moving at a reasonable pace.”

New financial certainty also came from Congress, which expanded incentives to underwrite offshore wind investments and provided benefits for manufacturers of components like turbines and blades, and turbine installation vessels. As the year neared its close, turbine installation vessels arrived in northern waters to begin construction on the first large-scale projects in the country off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

It’s a growth story only dampened by the specter of inflationary costs from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian war against Ukraine that have begun to bleed into development forecasts. The high price of steel and supply chain problems could pose threats as companies scramble to quickly launch projects.

Inflationary costs are not a unique problem for offshore wind. They are mirrored across the energy industries, noted Michelle Solomon, who tracks electricity trends for Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC, a nonpartisan think tank that supports the energy transition.

But there is a “concerning” possibility that inflation and supply chain issues can slow down the offshore wind build-out in the United States at a time when climate targets demand an even faster pace of renewable deployment, she said.

This month an offshore wind developer asked Massachusetts if it could bow out of contracts with utilities, citing higher costs that have put the project underwater without a different deal, while other large developers like Ørsted A/S and the Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. have been frank about their concerns about prices undermining project timelines (Energywire, Nov. 15).

The pressure is also at an all-time high for the Biden administration’s offshore wind bureau, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to meet lofty clean energy targets. Despite a breakneck speed, the bureau needs to approve more than a dozen offshore wind arrays in under two years (Energywire, Dec. 1).

Still, these pressing challenges follow a pivotal year in offshore wind that’s increased confidence that the industry has cemented its position in the U.S. Here are four takeaways of how the sector shifted in 2022 that shed light on where it’s going.

Read the full article at E&E News

US lawmakers pursuing national compensation plan for offshore wind impacts

December 23, 2022 — Two federal lawmakers from the U.S. state of Massachusetts have announced an effort to create a national policy that ensures fishermen are compensated for the impact offshore wind developments will have on their livelihoods.

U.S. Senator Ed Markey and U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, both Democrats, said Thursday, 22 December, they’re working on a discussion draft of legislation that would ensure just compensation for fishermen, with funding distributed based on wind farm projects in their regions. In doing this, they plan to bring together officials from NOAA, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and stakeholders from involved industries and academia to determine the best process to determine and distribute funding.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Wind developers’ tightening financials call New England project into question

December 23, 2022 — Developers of the 1,223-megawatt Commonwealth Wind offshore wind project are asking Massachusetts energy regulators to cancel their review of power purchase agreements, saying the contracts and changing world economic conditions make the project no longer viable.

Developers Avangrid have cited the war in Ukraine, interest rates, supply chain constraints, and persistent inflation – plus the escalating cost of wind turbines – for upending their cost projections and ability to finance the project.

Since Avangrid made its initial requests to renegotiate, electric power distributors Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil have refused to budge. Avangrid submitted its request to cancel the power contracts review Dec. 16, and said it plans to resubmit a bid into the Massachusetts power solicitation process in April 2023.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Baker leaves Healey, state with new emissions plan

December 22, 2022 — By the year 2050, the Baker administration envisions virtually all of the state’s more than five million light-duty vehicles will run on electric power instead of fossil fuels, 80 percent of Massachusetts homes will be heated and cooled with electric heat pumps, and the statewide electrical infrastructure will be able to handle two and a half times more load than in 2020.

Those are some of the key benchmarks in a new climate and clean energy plan Gov. Charlie Baker’s secretariat published Wednesday, outlining sector-specific emissions reduction targets and policy steps that will help Massachusetts achieve the legally required target of achieving net-zero statewide carbon emissions by the middle of the century.

The 2050 plan, which the Baker administration released on its way out the door of state government, seeks to formalize and expand a range of tactics already in play, leaning heavily on electrifying the transportation and building sectors and expanding clean energy sources such as offshore wind.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Beth Card said the 192-page document “represents the commonwealth’s comprehensive and aggressive plan to achieve net-zero cost effectively and equitably.”

“To successfully achieve net zero in 2050, it is essential to transition our electricity system to clean energy and make Massachusetts transportation and buildings more energy-efficient and electrify those sectors,” Card told reporters. “This effort will have significant implications for our economy, which is why we must engage closely with other state agencies, municipalities, businesses and residents.”

“Really, this plan is a comprehensive sort of capture of what we think needs to happen next,” Card later added.

Read the full article at WGBH

MASSACHUSETTS: Baker announces offshore wind awards — millions coming to New Bedford, Somerset projects

December 22, 2022 — As Gov. Charlie Baker’s time in office comes to a close, one of his final official acts is on a topic that has been a top priority for his administration: clean energy — specifically the Offshore Wind Ports Challenge to support the development of offshore wind power.

“Today, we’re going to announce $180 million worth of awards,” Baker said Tuesday.

Baker, along with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Energy Secretary Bethany Card announced recipients of the Offshore Wind Ports Challenge Tuesday inside the Technology Testing Center Large Blade Facility in Charlestown. The Offshore Wind Ports Infrastructure Investment Challenge is a competitive funding opportunity opened earlier in the year which seeks to expand and develop port infrastructure at three key harbors along the Massachusetts coast: New Bedford, Somerset and Salem.

“The 2050 decarbonization roadmap makes offshore wind a centerpiece of our approach to achieve net zero,” Card said.

The awarded money is going to a variety of firms that are working on the infrastructure component of making Massachusetts’ clean energy goals a reality.

Read the full article at South Coast Today

Markey, Moulton push for national fund to compensate fishermen for losses due to offshore wind

December 22, 2022 — With both offshore wind development and dissent from fishing groups ramping up along the East Coast, Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton announced a plan Wednesday to establish a national fund to compensate potential economic loss suffered by the fishing industry.

Currently there is no federal framework that requires offshore wind developers to compensate fishermen for potential damages. Those include gear loss, habitat degradation, loss of historic fishing grounds and new fishing restrictions in areas leased for wind farms — all of which compound, fishermen say, to spell serious economic challenges to their industry.

In the absence of such compensation requirements, some developers have established their own funds, with their own oversight panels. Other developers have not yet established a compensation plan. Fishing groups have been critical of this approach, saying the government’s lack of clear requirements gives the offshore wind industry the upper hand in compensation negotiations, leaving it up to the fishermen to prove the impact on their livelihoods and up to developers to decide the extent to which they are responsible.

“Any ability left to the wind developers to choose their own procedures will always result in their taking the least expensive path most favorable to them, not commercial fishing,” the New Bedford Port Authority wrote in a letter to the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in August.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Baker outlines plans to beef up ports to develop offshore wind farms

December 21, 2022 — The Baker administration on Tuesday announced $180 million in infrastructure funding for projects designed to support the state’s burgeoning offshore wind industry.

In a press conference held at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, Governor Charlie Baker and top climate aides also provided updates on the state’s clean energy industry, which has been a priority for Baker during his tenure on Beacon Hill.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done over the past 8 years, but it remains an urgent priority for the Commonwealth, for the country, and frankly, for the world,” said Baker. “I do believe, however, we are very well positioned to be a major player in this space.”

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

VIRGINIA: Regulators grant critical approval for Dominion wind farm off Virginia Beach coast

December 16, 2022 — Virginia regulators granted a critical approval Thursday for Dominion Energy’s plans to construct and operate a 176-turbine wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean.

The State Corporation Commission effectively signed off on an agreement Dominion reached this fall with the Virginia attorney general and other parties, in which the company agreed to implement several consumer protections in connection with the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

“We thank the Commission for its approval and appreciate the collaboration of the parties involved to reach an agreement that advances offshore wind and the clean energy transition in Virginia,” the Richmond-based company said in a statement. “Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind has many benefits for our customers. It is fuel free, emissions free, diversifies our energy mix and is a transformative economic development opportunity for Hampton Roads and Virginia.”

Read the full article at WAVY