Saving Seafood

More delays for wind farm off Delaware coast

March 15, 2021 — For the second time in less than a year, and this time for much longer, Ørsted is pushing back the expected commissioning date for its Skipjack Wind Farm off the coast of Delaware.

In an announcement Feb. 26, Brady Walker, Mid-Atlantic market manager for Ørsted, said the Danish company had notified the Maryland Public Service Commission that it now expects Skipjack to achieve commercial operations by the end of the second quarter of 2026.

In April 2020, Ørsted announced it was pushing the anticipated completion date for the 120-megawatt-producing wind farm back one year, from 2022 to 2023. At the time, company officials said the reasons for that delay were because of COVID and the federal government taking longer to analyze the impacts from the build-out of U.S. offshore wind projects.

Read the full story at the Cape Gazette

MARYLAND: Turbine hearing set for Ocean City Convention Center

January 6, 2020 — Roughly three weeks ago, Maryland Public Service Commission granted a request from Ocean City, Md. officials to hold a hearing, set Saturday, Jan. 18, on the impact of a proposal to install taller turbines than originally planned as part of two proposed offshore wind farms including  Skipjack LLC wind farm, a project of the Danish company Ørsted, due east of the Delaware coast.

The commission has scheduled the hearing in rooms 215, 216 and 217 of the Ocean City Convention Center, 4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md.

In a Dec. 13 order, commission Executive Secretary Andrew Johnston said the issue of viewshed was a significant focus during the approval process for U.S. Wind and Skipjack LLC, the two companies awarded Maryland’s offshore wind renewable energy certificates in 2017. While the commission will accept comment on the size of the turbines, it denied a request to reopen the case or reconsider the granting of offshore wind renewable energy certificates.

Discovery at the hearing will be limited to this topic, said Johnson.

Read the full story at the Cape Gazette

MARYLAND: Taller, more distant turbines put Ocean City offshore wind projects back under state review

November 20, 2019 — Two wind farms proposed off the coast of Ocean City, Md., are getting a second look from the state of Maryland.

The Skipjack Wind Farm, led by Danish company Ørsted, and the MarWin Wind Farm by Baltimore-based U.S. Wind, a subsidiary of the Italian renewable energy company Renexia, are being reviewed in response to concerns raised by Ocean City officials about the farms’ impact on tourism to the famous vacation spot.

Both projects submitted updates to the state this fall detailing plans to install taller, more powerful turbines in their respective leasing areas.

The Maryland Public Service Commission, which has final approval on whether the projects receive key ratepayer-funded subsidies, will review public comments on the updated plans and may choose to hold a public hearing. It represents the projects’ first review since the MPSC conditionally approved them in 2017.

Read the full story at Delmarva Now

MARYLAND: Offshore Wind Projects’ Impact On Fishing Grounds Discussed

July 18, 2018 — After hearing a strong presentation on the potential impacts of offshore wind energy farms on fishing off the Ocean City coast and throughout the mid-Atlantic, resort officials this week seemed poised to strengthen their opposition to the proposed projects.

Since the Maryland Public Service Commission over a year ago approved the leases for two wind energy projects off the coast, Ocean City officials have been in a prolonged battle with the two approved developers to site the massive turbines offshore by at least 26 miles, or a distance perceived to have them not visible from the shoreline. From the beginning, the Mayor and Council’s official position has been an overall support of the concept of renewable, offshore wind energy, but not at the expense of sightlines from the resort’s coast and the potential impact on tourism and property values.

While much of the wind turbine issues, at least locally, have focused on the proposed distance and the perceived impact on tourism and property values, there has been little formal discussion of the possible impact on the resort’s vast fishing industry. Almost certainly, there will be some disruption of commercial and recreational fishing during the construction of the vast wind farms off the resort coast including some likely closures.

Read the full story at the Maryland Coast Dispatch