Saving Seafood

Virginia Governor Making Budgetary Allocations for Offshore Wind

December 12, 2019 — As a part of Gov. Ralph Northam’s new budget for Virginia, the commonwealth will see the establishment of the Office of Offshore Wind – a first for Virginia.

The budget will also earmark up to $40 million to upgrade the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, which will help secure new investments in the offshore wind supply chain. These investments are aimed at ensuring Virginia achieves its goal of 2.5 GW of energy generated from offshore wind by 2026.

“In Virginia, we are proving that a clean environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand – and having both is what makes our commonwealth such a great place to live, work and play,” Northam says.

“The proposed investments in clean energy financing and the first office of offshore wind will create new business opportunities, expand customer access to renewable energy, and spark high-demand jobs of the 21st century,” adds Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball. “Likewise, the investments at Portsmouth Marine Terminal will enable the commonwealth to attract new economic investment from the offshore wind industry, which is pivotal as we work to diversify the economy in Hampton Roads.”

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

New Task Force Will Consider Leases For Offshore Wind Energy Developers In The Gulf Of Maine

December 12, 2019 — A new task force will convene for the first time Thursday to consider how and where to lease potentially vast swathes of the Gulf of Maine to offshore wind-energy developers. The outcome could have big consequences for Maine’s fishing industry, and for the state’s role in the next wave of renewable energy development.

An earlier round of auctions awarded leases in federal waters off southern New England, where several large-scale wind projects should soon start churning out thousands of megawatts of electricity — a big down payment on state commitments to ramp up the use of renewable energy.

Now, at New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu’s request, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is starting a new process to designate the best areas for offshore wind projects farther north — in the Gulf of Maine. Analysts say investments could be worth billions of dollars, with thousands of jobs in the offing.

“This is a really significant opportunity for our energy future and economy,” says Dan Burgess.

Burgess directs Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ energy office, and he is leading the state’s delegation to the intergovernmental task force that will advise the Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management. The panel also includes representatives from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, tribal governments and the feds.

Read the full story at Maine Public

New Hampshire Preparing for Offshore Wind Development

December 10, 2019 — Governor Chris Sununu signed an executive order preparing for future offshore wind development by establishing four advisory boards focused on informing New Hampshire’s next steps, while calling on state agencies to report on key studies.

Sununu says his order will ensure an open and transparent process involving diverse stakeholders to balance existing offshore uses with a new source of clean energy. “This will require enhanced coordination between state agencies, new studies, and continuous engagement with the public,” he says. “Most of all, it’s imperative that we go through this process the right way from day one to maximize all the potential benefits of this new industry.”

The first federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting for the Gulf of Maine is December 12, 2019 at the University of New Hampshire.

The executive order establishes four advisory boards to work with stakeholders, and advise New Hampshire members of the BOEM Task Force throughout the process.

Read the full story at Business NH Magazine

Study finds declining costs make Oregon offshore wind ‘promising’

December 10, 2019 — The prospects for the development of wind power projects off the coast of Oregon are “promising” but would require floating wind turbine technologies, according to a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Offshore wind has become prevalent in Europe, but was slow to catch on in the United States before 2016 when the country’s first offshore wind project, the 30-megawatt (MW) Block Island Wind Farm, went online in Rhode Island.

Until then, the higher costs of offshore wind compared with onshore wind inhibited development, but technological improvements and economies of scale have brought costs down, resulting in a surge in projects, particularly in New England where several large projects are under way.

In December, Anbaric filed an application with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for the right to develop the Southern New England OceanGrid, an open-access offshore transmission system that would be capable of connecting up to 16,000 MW of offshore wind to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. And in October, the newly launched Offshore Wind California coalition called for setting a state goal of reaching 10 GW of offshore wind by 2040.

Oregon, in particular the southern coastal regions, has some of the best wind resources in the United States with average wind speeds near 10 meters per second, according to the NREL report, Oregon Offshore Wind Site Feasibility and Cost Study. But unlike the East Coast with its Continental Shelf, water depths off the Oregon coast present a challenge.

Read the full story at the American Public Power Association

New offshore wind award is largest renewable project ever for CT

December 9, 2019 — In what is the single largest purchase of renewable power ever by the state, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced Thursday it has chosen Vineyard Wind to develop an 804-megawatt offshore wind project.

Once developed, the project will constitute roughly 14% of the state’s power needs.

For those reasons, DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes called the award “historic.”

“It also advances a major step toward Gov. Lamont’s goal of 100 percent zero carbon electricity supply by 2040,” she noted in a call with reporters. “As we address the urgent challenge of climate change, this selection demonstrates Connecticut’s leadership in advancing solutions at the scale that we need to help provide a solution to this global threat.”

The project award came not a moment too soon.

With federal tax credits set to expire at the end of the year, Connecticut and its offshore-wind-loving neighbors have been scrambling to authorize projects and, as such, benefit from the tax break that helps with financing. Congress has extended such tax credits many times, and House Democrats have proposed a five-year extension.

Read the full story at The CT Mirror

Offshore wind still looks to get a foothold in California

December 9, 2019 — There may be a literal energy windfall off the coast of California but it is still unclear whether the federal government will give approval to specific sites and how long it will take before tall turbines are bobbing on the Pacific, sending electricity to customers across the Golden State.

Wind energy’s boosters are eager to see proposed projects get the go-ahead.

“Let’s get a couple of these rolling, get some floating offshore turbines out there and build this over time, which is exactly what you’re seeing on the East Coast,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.

For now, the state, local and federal governments are working with military brass to negotiate a possible agreement that could see a way clear for a pair of sites off the coast of Central California but a compromise thus far has proved elusive.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

Offshore Wind Awaits Federal Environmental Reports

December 6, 2019 — The offshore wind industry is rolling out new projects, but a forthcoming federal environmental report may determine how and when they get built.

The latest industry initiative is the expansion of a cable factory in Charleston, S.C., where Paris-based Nexans plans to make some 620 miles of high-voltage power lines for the five wind projects under development by the utility Eversource and Danish energy company Ørsted. The companies declined to say how the five-year contract was granted. Nexans is also building a new cable-laying vessel with a 10,000-ton capacity.

On Oct. 30, Massachusetts awarded a wind-facility lease to a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and EDP Renewables for the 804-megawatt Mayflower Wind wind project 20 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The five projects boost state renewable-energy targets, but for the moment their immediate prospects await the outcome of reports by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Coast Guard.

The Port Access Route Study: The Areas Offshore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, conducted by the Coast Guard, was prompted by the proposed navigation route changes in U.S. waters.

Read the full story at EcoRI

Connecticut Picks Offshore-Wind Winner in Bid to Go Carbon-Free

December 6, 2019 — Connecticut agreed to buy power from a huge wind farm planned in the Atlantic Ocean by a joint venture of Avangrid Inc. and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The venture, Vineyard Wind, will provide the state with 804 megawatts, or about 14% of its power needs. It’s part of Governor Ned Lamont’s push to get to 100% of the state’s electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040, Connecticut officials said in a statement Thursday. The project is forecast to come online in 2025.

U.S. states from Massachusetts to Virginia see massive turbines in the ocean as a way to bring clean power to crowded coastal cities and fight global warming. New York has awarded contacts to build 1.7 gigawatts. New Jersey has a contract for 1.1 gigawatts. Analysts forecast it could grow into a $70 billion industry, revitalizing ports up and down the Atlantic.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY: Doubling NJ offshore wind power will require work, cooperation

December 6, 2019 — Gov. Phil Murphy, who already will be remembered for launching New Jersey’s offshore wind energy future, recently more than doubled the state’s commitment to electricity from turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.

In June, when the state picked Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind to develop its first wind farm off Atlantic City, its goal of producing 3,500 megawatts by 2030 was considered ambitious. Five months later, with climate activist Al Gore at his side, Murphy ordered the state to produce 7,500 MW by 2035. That would be enough to power 3.2 million homes.

The original goal was worthy and very timely, and this one is good too. But don’t assume that scaling up New Jersey’s wind energy will be easy or done well, or even at the reasonable cost of the first 1,100MW Ørsted will deploy by 2024.

Read the full opinion piece at the Press of Atlantic City

BOEM offshore wind review may go to late 2020; developers undeterred

December 6, 2019 — The Department of Interior’s review of potential cumulative impact of East Coast offshore wind energy development may continue into late 2020.

But industry advocates say the nascent U.S. industry’s momentum is continuing, with new contracts and commitments, and expectations of new Bureau of Offshore Energy Management offshore lease sales in New York Bight and California waters.

“In 2020 we’ll have additional leases coming on line in New York and California. This will become a bicoastal industry,” Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, told audiences at the 40th annual International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans Thursday.

While BOEM controls the granting of offshore leases, “the states are feeding the market,” with their ambitious plans to dramatically boost renewable energy supplies, said Burdock. Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and others are seeking offshore wind as a replacement as aging fossil fuel and nuclear power stations are phased out in the Northeast.

The process of permitting as many as 15 federal waters leases is on a pause along with a BOEM environmental impact statement on the Vineyard Wind project off Massachusetts, as the agency examines the potential impact of building those turbine arrays on the environment and other maritime uses.

Read the full story at National Fisherman