Saving Seafood

Wind power construction noise doesn’t destroy whale habitat, feds find

August 27, 2024 — The federal government issued a new “biological opinion” on the offshore wind power project off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, finding that pile-driving noise associated with Vineyard Wind 1 is likely to adversely affect, but not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of whales, fish or sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“It will have no effect on any designated critical habitat,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said in a statement. “NOAA Fisheries does not anticipate serious injuries to or mortalities of any ESA listed whale including the North Atlantic right whale.” The agency said that with mitigation measures, “all effects to North Atlantic right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance.”

NOAA Fisheries said Friday it was issuing its new opinion to the “federal action agencies” including Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which approved the Vineyard Wind 1 Project in 2021 and oversees offshore wind power development in federal lease areas.

Read the full story at WBUR

Fishermen stage floating protest at Vineyard Wind site

August 27, 2024 — As concerns mount over the July collapse of one Vineyard Wind turbine blade, a “flotilla” of about two dozen commercial and recreational fishing vessels steamed to the wind farm on Sunday to protest offshore wind development and its impact on the marine ecosystem.

The vessels, hoisting anti-offshore wind flags and blasting air horns, departed early Sunday morning from ports in New Bedford, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Rhode Island and along the Cape, converging at about noon on the site of the crippled Vineyard Wind turbine.

“The blade collapse was an eye-opener to a lot of people who before didn’t know that offshore wind is a disaster for the ocean,” said Shawn Machie, 54, who is captain of the New Bedford scalloper F/V Capt. John.

On July 13, one of the three blades on turbine AW38 sustained damage while undergoing testing. Five days later, a 300-foot section of the blade collapsed into the water leaving fiberglass debris floating in fishing grounds and scattered across beaches, mostly on Nantucket. It marked an inflection point as the first industrial energy incident in this era of offshore wind development in waters off the Northeast coast.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Light

Vineyard Wind And GE Vernova Respond To Community Questions After Blade Failure

August 26, 2024 — After weeks of avoiding questions from the community, GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind have responded to a list of inquiries from the Town of Nantucket. Those answers are included below, along with relevant context. Some questions and answers have been abbreviated or omitted for brevity or edited for grammatical correctness.

  • Question: Has this incident occurred elsewhere?

Answer: A Haliade 220-X blade incident has not occurred elsewhere due to a manufacturing deviation. There was an offshore blade event in the UK, but it was due to an unrelated installation issue. Answered by GE Vernova.

Context: While this answer is factually correct, it is worded to avoid mentioning similar issues that have occurred with a series of GE Vernova blades other than the Haliade 220-X.

  • Question: How long do we expect debris to wash up?

Answer: On August 14, 2024, the companies safely completed the removal of the hanging pieces of the affected blade through a safe controlled cutting operation. They also removed the debris that settled on the turbine platform. They are now advancing to the next step of the action plan by preparing for the removal of the blade root and addressing debris on the seafloor. The companies maintain teams at sea, by air, and on the shore in Nantucket and surrounding areas to address any additional debris that may be found. Answered by Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Fishermen organizing ‘flotilla’ protest against offshore wind

August 23, 2024 — In response to recent concerns over offshore wind and with debris washing up on Nantucket and Island beaches from a fractured turbine blade, the New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has organized a “flotilla” for this Sunday, bringing fishing boats together to peacefully protest in unison against the offshore wind industry.

Boats will be joining together in a “boat parade” from various areas of the east coast, said NEFSA founder and CEO Jerry Leeman, including the Vineyard, Nantucket, parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and potentially New Jersey.

Read the full article at MV Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind Removes Final Pieces Of Damaged Blade Hanging From Turbine

August 16, 2024 — Vineyard Wind announced Thursday that it had removed the remaining pieces of the damaged blade that had been hanging from one of its turbines since the failure event on July 13.

The hanging pieces of the blade – which once measured 351 feet and weighed 55 tons before it folded and shattered last month – were removed through a “controlled cutting operation” which Vineyard Wind had previewed in its action plan released on August 11.

“While most of the debris was collected during the operation, some entered the water column before it could be recovered,” the town of Nantucket announced on Thursday following an update from Vineyard Wind officials. “Vineyard Wind has assured the town that they will maintain teams at sea, by air, and onshore on Nantucket and surrounding areas to monitor and address any additional debris that may be found.”

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Vineyard Wind construction resumes one month after turbine blade failure. What we know.

August 15, 2024 — Even as investigations continue into what caused the blade on Vineyard Wind turbine AW-38 to collapse last month, sending splintered fiberglass, rigid foam and balsa wood into the ocean, limited construction is resuming on the 806-megawatt offshore project.

On Tuesday, Foss Maritime‘s Prevailing Wind barge — one of only two vessels in the world capable of transporting Vineyard Wind’s massive turbine components in an upright position — left the New Bedford Marine Commerce terminal loaded with tower sections and a nacelle and headed for the project area south of Martha’s Vineyard.

Also on board was a rack of three blades, though according to the wind developer this was “solely for the purpose of ensuring safe and balanced composition for the transport,” not for installation. The company said the blades will be returned to the commerce terminal later this week.

Read the full article at The Herald News

Feds allow Vineyard Wind to resume partial installation

August 14, 2024 –A fully loaded feeder barge with turbine components, which for weeks has been sitting in New Bedford, left port and headed out to the Vineyard Wind site Tuesday morning. There, a vessel will offload the nacelle and tower components, but the blades will stay on and return to port.

The federal government this week updated its suspension order, allowing the project-on-pause to resume partial installation of new turbines as the parties continue to analyze the blade failure, which happened one month ago.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)’s latest suspension order continues to prohibit further blade installation or power production at this time.

In response to a request for comment, a BSEE spokesperson said the agency issued the latest suspension order on August 10. The order requires “risk analysis and mitigation approved by BSEE prior to being able to conduct any activities on the damaged turbine.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: More Vineyard Wind turbine pieces fall in ‘controlled detachment,’ debris could hit Nantucket beaches

August 13, 2024 — More pieces of the faulty Vineyard Wind turbine blade fell in a controlled detachment early Sunday morning, and Nantucket beaches remain at risk of seeing more debris wash up in the coming days, town officials reported.

“The controlled detachment follows a series of exercises conducted late last week to pitch the blade, which, in combination with storm winds, led to the safe separation of the sections below the root of the blade,” Nantucket officials stated Sunday night.

Following the July 13 initial malfunction and collapse of the wind turbine, Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova said they’ve developed a “comprehensive plan to recover the remaining AW-38 blade in incremental steps” in a presentation released Friday.

As of Sunday night, teams from the companies are assessing whether the remaining sections “pose a risk of detachment,” Nantucket officials said. The root of the blade, which has a plan in place for its removal, is still attached and being monitored.

Read the full article at The Boston Herald

A Lot Was Riding on This Wind Farm. Then Giant Shards Washed Up in Nantucket.

August 12, 2024 — This summer was supposed to be a breakout season for the faltering offshore wind business in the U.S. Instead it may be defined by an ill-timed break.

A large project off the coast of Massachusetts, called Vineyard Wind, remains at a standstill following an accident that dropped a massive turbine blade into the ocean last month and washed chunks of debris onto Nantucket beaches.

The blade broke at the height of summer and at a pivotal moment for the U.S. offshore wind industry, which has struggled with rising costs, political opposition and a wave of canceled and renegotiated contracts. Efforts to launch the sector in the U.S. are considered key to President Biden’s climate aspirations but would be especially vulnerable if former President Donald Trump returns to office.

Of the many clean-energy incentives and policies approved by Congress or the Biden administration in recent years, offshore wind projects and electric vehicles have been singled out repeatedly by Trump with particular ire.

“We are going to make sure that ends on day one,” Trump said at a campaign event in May, talking about an offshore wind project in New Jersey. “I will write it out in an executive order.”

The project offshore Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard is among the largest planned wind farms in U.S. waters, with the capacity to deliver electricity to around 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. It was the first U.S. commercial offshore wind installation to start delivering grid power earlier this year and has more than a third of its turbines in place.

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind lays out plan to remove remaining damaged blade

August 12, 2024 — Vineyard Wind issued an action plan on Friday with details about the steps it will take to remove the remaining damaged blade, as post-tropical storm Debby makes its way to Massachusetts.

This involves removing fallen debris from the tower platform, rotating the turbine to shake loose any further debris, potentially cutting off a dangling portion of the blade, removing debris from the ocean floor, and ultimately detaching the blade “root” from the nacelle (the turbine’s generator).

A Vineyard Wind spokesperson said there was no specific order in the multi-step plan for removal, but did not state whether any of the steps were undertaken on Thursday or Friday.

Vineyard Wind’s plan also calls for resuming turbine installation (without the blades) before the inspection of all blades is complete. The company, however, cannot resume such activity until the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) lifts or amends its suspension order to allow for certain component installation to resume.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light