December 26, 2023 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition addresses five inaccurate and misleading statements made in a recent press release by the Chesapeake Legal Alliance and the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization regarding their petition for rulemaking to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). A brief overview of inaccuracies, expert statements, and scientific findings is listed below, followed by a more detailed discussion of each false claim.
VIRGINIA: As other wind projects stall, Virginia’s approach keeps Dominion’s on track
December 24, 2023 — Back in 2011, Dominion Energy sent Diane Leopold, then a senior vice president for generation, to Greater Gabbard wind farm, 14 miles off the English coast in the North Sea, to look at a new-to-the-U.S. way of making electricity: offshore wind farms.
She came back with news that they could work in Virginia — wind conditions were similar, turbines could be anchored in deep and choppy seas and, key for this engineering graduate of England’s Sussex University, there was a clear path from the 3-megwatt turbines she saw to the larger ones that would make wind an affordable way to generate electricity.
“The biggest issue at the time was what’s the cost going to be for the customers,” said Leopold, who is now Dominion’s chief operating officer. “The technology fully proved out … but the ability to go from 3-megawatt turbines to 6-megawatt turbines to 11 to now almost 15 helps the economies of scale really get that cost down for the customers,” she said as she recalled Dominion’s first steps toward what became a $9.8 billion plan for an offshore wind farm capable of powering up to 660,000 homes.
DELAWARE: Delaware to again explore offshore wind proposal
December 20, 2023 — Another offshore wind farm plan off the Delaware coast will be examined by the state.
Governor John Carney’s office announced the start of formal negotiations with US Wind that could bring two projects to the area off of Delaware Seashore State Park by the end of 2028.
The tentative plan would send power from US Wind’s proposed “MarWin” and “Momentum” wind farms to the 3Rs parking lot south of the Indian River Inlet, with US Wind leasing the land at $350,000 per year, with annual increases of 3%.
The cables would cross land, before then going through the Indian River Bay to the Delmarva Power & Light substation in Millsboro at the inlet edge of the bay
Wind farm off New Jersey likely to ‘adversely affect’ but not kill whales, feds say
December 19, 2023 — The lone remaining offshore wind project in New Jersey with preliminary approval is likely to “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, but its construction, operation and eventual dismantling will not seriously harm or kill them, a federal scientific agency said.
In a biological opinion issued Monday night, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the Atlantic Shores project, to be built off the state’s southern coast, is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any species of endangered whales, sea turtles, or fish.
Nor is it anticipated to destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat, the agency said.
Jennifer Daniels, the company’s development director, called NOAA’s decision “the next step forward” for the project.
It’s “a testament to the five years and 40-plus environmental assessments completed to ensure we are delivering safe, reliable, renewable power in a way that prioritizes responsible ocean development,” Daniels wrote.
Scientists to study how offshore wind construction off Virginia Beach impacts fish
December 18, 2023 — Researchers with the Nature Conservancy and federal government are embarking on groundbreaking research off the coast of Virginia Beach to see how driving offshore wind turbines into the seafloor impacts fish behavior.
The research will provide guidance for how the government should craft environmental regulations for offshore wind development, which is increasing as the U.S. transitions from fossil fuel generation to renewable energy sources.
“The renewable energy sector is really critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kate Wilke, a marine scientist with the Nature Conservancy. “There really is a lot of scrutiny on this industry, and therefore we hope that that truly leads to better outcomes as the industry is developing and built out.”
While offshore wind has been slower to develop in the U.S. than in Europe or Asia, states along the East Coast have been racing to propose projects in recent years, especially after President Joe Biden announced a goal of having 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. That’s enough to power roughly 10 million homes.
Virginia set its own goal of developing 5.2 gigawatts of offshore wind as part of the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act, which seeks to decarbonize the state’s electric grid by 2050. Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility, is currently building a 2.6 gigawatt project that is expected to be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm when it’s complete.
The $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, also known as CVOW, will construct 176 turbines about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. While other projects along the East Coast have stalled because of economic pressures, Dominion has said CVOW is “on-time and on-budget.”
As the utility prepares to begin the drilling needed for the turbines, the Nature Conservancy is taking the opportunity to see how all the earth-shaking activity will affect fish.
“We are going to tag animals in such a way that it gives us the opportunity to observe behavior and gain an understanding of how that behavior may or may not change before versus during that construction activity,” said Brendan Runde, another scientist with the Nature Conservancy.
BOEM intends to lease more wind farm area off Delaware coast
December 18, 2023 — The U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced a proposal of another offshore wind lease sale, this time in ocean waters about 26 nautical miles from Delaware Bay.
“We are taking action to jumpstart America’s offshore wind industry and using American innovation to deliver reliable, affordable power to homes and businesses, while also addressing the climate crisis,” said Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a prepared statement.
According to the announcement, the new areas have the potential to power more than 2.2 million homes with clean energy.
Read the full article at the Cape Gazette
Decades after Europe, turning blades send first commercial offshore wind power onto US grid
December 7, 2023 — Despite some recent financial setbacks, U.S. offshore windpower has hit a milestone. An 800-foot tall turbine is now sending electricity onto the grid from a commercial-scale offshore wind farm on pace to be the country’s first.
The moment is years in the making and at the same time a modest advance in what experts say needs to be a major buildout of this type of clean electricity to address climate change.
Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource announced Wednesday the first electricity from what will be a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. It will be New York’s first offshore wind farm.
A group of commercial fishermen have ended up before the Supreme Court
December 7, 2023 — For years, fishermen like Bill Bright and his colleague Wayne Reichle have been required to take federal observers on their boats when they set out into the North Atlantic in search of herring. Those observers are making sure fishermen are catching what they’re legally allowed, most of it in efforts to prevent overfishing.
But back in 2020, federal regulators moved to require herring fishermen to directly pay observers salaries, a move that could potentially cost herring fishermen up to $700 per day.
By some estimates, that could top 20% of revenue from a fisherman’s catch.
“From the beginning, the most important thing for us was the ability to continue fishing and continue operating the way we’ve operated for a number of years,” Wayne Reichle said.
As a result, Reichle, Bright and a half dozen other fishermen sued the federal government.
A case that has rippled so far beyond the shores of New Jersey that it has now ended up before the Supreme Court. Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Gina Raimondo is set to be argued before the court in January 2024.
“From the beginning, the most important thing for us was the ability to continue fishing and continue operating the way we’ve operated for a number of years. It’s about us being able to maintain our livelihoods and operations,” Reichle said.
New Jersey Plans to Restart Offshore Wind in 2024 After “Bump in the Road”
December 4, 2023 — The Governor of New Jersey is looking to restart his state’s offshore wind programs reiterating that they remain committed to offshore wind as a key component of the state’s renewable energy program. The state said the governor’s action reaffirmed its overall commitment to achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2035 and developing the economy by building the industry and its supporting supply chain.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) was directed by the governor to accelerate the timeline of the state’s fourth offshore wind solicitation. Originally scheduled for the summer of 2024, Governor Phil Murphy on November 29 directed NJBPU to launch the next offshore wind solicitation in early 2024. However, the state does not expect to announce the awards in early 2025 for projects that will not be operational till 2032.
“I have directed the BPU to take this action in recognition of the strong future of New Jersey’s offshore wind industry,” said Governor Murphy. “New Jersey can – and will – continue to remain a burgeoning offshore wind development hub that attracts new projects and their accompanying economic and environmental benefits for generations to come.”
Chesapeake Bay dead zone ‘smallest’ it’s been since 1985
December 2, 2023 — The “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay is the smallest it has been since recording began in 1985, according to new data from Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Old Dominion University and Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The dead zone is the area in which there is a relative low amount of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Typically, this means that polluted runoff has brought in phosphorus and nitrogen, which feeds growth of algal blooms. These blooms eventually die and decompose, removing oxygen from the surrounding waters faster than it can be replenished. Animals such as crabs, oysters and fish need healthy levels of oxygen in the water to survive.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake Bay were “much better” than past years. The department reported the dead zone averaged 0.52 cubic miles from May to October this year, compared with the historical average of 0.97 cubic miles.
VIMS reported a dead zone of 0.58 cubic miles. The institute reported that hypoxia began earlier than usual, in April, but it remained “uncharacteristically low” from June until ending in late-September. The relatively early end resulted from cooling temperatures in September and strong winds during Tropical Storm Ophelia.
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