Saving Seafood

Major offshore wind projects in New York canceled, scallop industry likely to benefit

April 20, 2024 —  Politico reported today that three New York offshore wind projects are being scrapped. NYSERDA, the state authority in charge of offshore wind deals, announced Friday that no final agreements could be reached with the three projects that received provisional awards in October 2023. 

This decision has nothing to do with concerns raised by fishing interests, but it is good news, particularly for the scallop industry. 

  • The Attentive Energy One project area is in the New York Bight scallop access area, which is an important scallop ground. 
  • The Community Offshore Wind project has some scallop grounds in it, but it’s also adjacent to highly productive traditional grounds, so it could impact seeding of larvae. 
  • Excelsior Wind by Vineyard Offshore has an open bottom scallop fishing area in it. 

The three bids, Attentive Energy One, Community Offshore Wind, and Excelsior Wind, were all linked to major supply chain investments by General Electric and a larger turbine it planned to build. In February, GE decided not to move forward with an 18-megawatt turbine. NYSERDA confirmed that was the main reason no final awards were made. 

There has also been a limit to the degree to which state utility regulators are willing to let the rates go up, which means there’s a cap on how much the companies can earn per megawatt. The overriding question is: Could they produce this power from wind and make money at current rates, given the cost to install these turbines? Apparently, the answer was no. 

Biden administration approves the nation’s seventh large offshore wind project

March 27, 2024 — The Biden administration greenlit the seventh large offshore wind project in the United States Tuesday.

Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource plan to build a 924-megawatt project, Sunrise Wind, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk, New York. They say the wind farm will power about 600,000 New York homes when it opens in 2026.

This month, the companies opened the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. The 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind is 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk. They announced their financial commitment to the Sunrise Wind project when the Interior Department issued its decision.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Despite fierce opposition, South Fork Wind completes turbines

March 19, 2024 — South Fork Wind, an array of 12 turbines 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., became the first fully operational offshore wind energy project in U.S. federal waters on March 14. This milestone for the U.S. industry was one of its earliest and most bitterly fought projects.

In May 2023, fishermen pointed out that Ørsted and co-developer Eversource Energy LLC illegally expanded the no-fishing and no-travel zones while laying cables connecting the turbines to the mainland electric grid east of Montauk.

The approved construction plan called for a 500-meter buffer on either side of the cables; however, on April 20, fishermen in the area stated, allegedly, that they were told by the Ørsted vessel that they must stay a mile and a half away from each side of the cable. Many other groups and New York natives have initially opposed the project.

With a maximum nameplate rating of 132 megawatts, South Fork Wind was first approved by the Long Island Power Authority in 2017. Partners Ørsted and Eversource began construction in February 2022, and completion was announced Thursday.

“When I broke ground on the South Fork project, I promised to build a cleaner, greener future for all New Yorkers,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said, announcing the completion. “With more projects in the pipeline, this is just the beginning of New York’s offshore wind future. I look forward to continued partnership with the Biden Administration and local leaders to build a clean and resilient energy grid.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

South Fork Wind Farm off Rhode Island’s coast starts producing power

March 15, 2024 — The nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm is fully operational and capable of sending its entire capacity of power to the electric grid.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other state and federal officials flipped a symbolic switch on Thursday, marking the completion of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 12-turbine project built off the Rhode Island coast and connected to the Long Island energy system.

“This will serve as a beacon to the rest of the nation, a statement of what is possible,” Hochul said at the event at Stony Brook University’s Southampton campus on Long Island.

Read the full article at The Providence Journal

South Fork Wind’s 12 turbines completed

March 15, 2024 — The last of 12 turbines in the South Fork Wind project 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., were completed March 14.

South Fork Wind, an array of 12 turbines 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., became the first fully operational offshore wind energy project in U.S. federal waters on March 14. This milestone for the U.S. industry was one of its earliest and most bitterly fought projects.

With a maximum nameplate rating of 132 megawatts, South Fork Wind was first approved by the Long Island Power Authority in 2017. Partners Ørsted and Eversource began construction in February 2022, and completion was announced Thursday.

“When I broke ground on the South Fork project, I made a promise to build a cleaner, greener future for all New Yorkers,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. With more projects in the pipeline, this is just the beginning of New York’s offshore wind future, and I look forward to continued partnership with the Biden Administration and local leaders to build a clean and resilient energy grid.”

The Hochul administration aims to have 9 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035 and recently announced two new project awards, Empire Wind I, and Sunrise Wind, for over 1,730 MW.

Read the full article at Workboat

NEW YORK: New York Completes First Utility-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in the U.S.

March 15, 2024 — Elected officials in New York State joined with industry leaders and Ørsted and its partners to mark the completed construction of South Fork Wind. The 132 MW project is considered to be the United States’ first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. The offshore work was completed in approximately nine months with 12 turbines and is being hailed as a symbol of what is going to be coming to the U.S. clean energy industry.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate the completion of the South Fork project,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “Today is further proof that America’s clean energy transition is not a dream for a distant future – it’s happening right here and now.”

With all 12 of South Fork Wind’s turbines installed, the wind farm is delivering power to the local Long Island electric grid while commissioning is in its final stage. At full capacity, the wind farm, which is located roughly 35 miles off the coast of Montauk at the eastern tip of Long Island will generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 70,000 homes and will eliminate up to six million tons of carbon emissions over the 20-year life of the project.?

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

NEW YORK: FERC approves first offshore wind project to connect to New York’s grid, Equinor says

March 14, 2024 — Energy firm Equinor on Wednesday announced the first Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for an offshore wind project to connect directly into the New York City transmission system.

FERC on March 1 approved the Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA) executed between the company’s Empire Wind 1 project, New York ISO (NYISO) and Consolidated Edison Co, Equinor said in a release.

Read the full article at Yahoo Finance

Interior plan for NY offshore wind draws fire

March 2, 2024 — The Interior Department is failing to protect scallop fisheries in the mid-Atlantic from what could be a boom in offshore wind, according to industry workers in the New York region.

The criticism came after the release of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s draft analysis of the possibility of an estimated 1,000 offshore wind turbines in the New York Bight, a shallow wedge of ocean between the state and New Jersey. The area is being eyed for several offshore wind farms because of leases sold by the Biden administration in 2022.

“It is beyond reasonable dispute [that] the scallop fishery will be the most adversely affected fishery from wind development in the New York Bight,” the Fisheries Survival Fund, which represents scallop fishermen, wrote in a Monday letter to the agency.

Read the full article at E&E News

New York awards offshore wind contracts to Equinor, Orsted

March 2, 2024 — New York officials on Thursday awarded conditional contracts to buy electricity from two proposed offshore wind projects under a program meant to support the embattled industry and keep the state’s ambitious clean energy goals on track.

The state said it had selected the Empire Wind 1 project from Norway’s Equinor (EQNR.OL), opens new tab and the Sunrise Wind facility being developed by Denmark’s Orsted (ORSTED.CO), opens new tab and U.S. power provider Eversource

Once completed, the projects will produce enough electricity to power 1 million homes, the state said. They will be the largest electricity generation projects built in the state in nearly four decades.

The solicitation by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) was being closely watched because it allowed companies to exit old contracts and re-offer projects at higher prices.

Read the full article at Reuters