offshore energy Archives - Page 92 of 103

BOEM to publish environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind’s offshore wind farm

December 4, 2018 — The United States’ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced that it will issue a Notice of Availability (NOA) for Vineyard Wind’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS.) The DEIS was prepared by BOEM as part of the agency’s review of Vineyard Wind’s proposed 800-MW wind farm to be constructed in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and approximately 34 miles south of the Cape Cod mainland.

BOEM reported that there will be a 45-day public comment period for the DEIS, ending on January 21, 2019. The DEIS provides an analysis of potential environmental impacts associated with proposed actions as set forth in the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the project that Vineyard Wind submitted to BOEM in 2017.

Public input, which will include five public BOEM meetings in the region, will inform preparation of the Final Environmental Impact Statement. Full details regarding the public meetings and directions for submitting comment can be found here.

Publication of the DEIS represents the latest progress for the project as it advances through the permitting process toward the start of construction in 2019 and operations by 2021 following the award and execution of long-term contracts between Vineyard Wind and Massachusetts’ electric distribution companies. Since submitting the COP, Vineyard Wind announced that the project’s preferred cable landing will be the Town of Barnstable and both parties entered into a Host Community Agreement, stipulating additional measures to ensure protection of the Town’s watershed.

Read the full story at Windpower Energy & Development

Virginia conservationists blast approval of seismic testing for oil, gas in Atlantic

December 4, 2018 — Virginia conservationists are blasting the Trump administration’s decision to reverse course and approve seismic air gun surveys along the Atlantic coast to search for buried oil and gas reserves.

The groups cite widespread public opposition to seismic blasting and offshore drilling, as well as the harm posed to marine life and coastal economies that rely on healthy waters and wetlands.

“This action flies in the face of massive opposition to offshore drilling and exploration from over 90 percent of coastal municipalities in the proposed blast zone,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director at the D.C.-based advocacy group Oceana. “President (Donald) Trump is essentially giving these companies permission to harass, harm and possibly even kill marine life.”

“Offshore drilling in our region would pose far too many risks to the health of coastal waters and the Chesapeake Bay, fishing, aquaculture, tourism and all jobs that depend on clean water,” said Lisa Feldt, vice president for environmental protection and restoration at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “We need to run away from offshore drilling, not move towards it.”

Read the full story at the Daily Press

NOAA Approves Seismic Blasts off Coast of Md., Va.

December 4, 2018 — The federal government has cleared the way for five companies to do seismic surveys in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maryland and Virginia, as a first step to possible offshore drilling for gas and oil.

National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, gave final authorization, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to “incidentally, but not intentionally, harass marine mammals to companies proposing to conduct geophysical surveys in support of hydrocarbon exploration in the Atlantic Ocean.”

That means NOAA Fisheries will allow seismic blasts even though they may unintentionally disturb marine mammals. The companies will be required to monitor acoustics, and take action to reduce the impact on animals. The required actions include vessels listening and watching for marine life, especially protected species. Companies must increase the seismic activity gradually “to alert animals in the area and reduce potential for exposure to intense noise.” And when certain sensitive species are nearby, they must stop blasting.

The geophysical surveys use airgun arrays to explore for hydrocarbons. A 2017 Presidential Executive Order encourages energy exploration like this. The NOAA Fisheries decision to allow blasting on the Atlantic Coast was met with outrage from conservation groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says there is no evidence that seismic surveys harm marine life, but a study it conducted in 2014 shows that nearly three million dolphins and half a million whales could be harassed, or worse, by survey activity.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Vineyard Wind given more time to meet fishermen’s concerns

November 28, 2018 — Rhode Island coastal regulators granted Vineyard Wind a stay in permitting proceedings on Tuesday, giving the New Bedford company another two months to reach agreement with fishermen who say they would lose access to valuable fishing grounds in the waters where 84 wind turbines would be installed.

At the request of Vineyard Wind, the Coastal Resources Management Council agreed to postpone a decision until the end of January on whether to grant what’s known as a “consistency certification” to the 800-megawatt offshore wind farm proposed in 118 square miles between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

The delay will give the company more time to discuss a compensation package with fishermen and potential tweaks to the wind farm’s layout, said CEO Lars Pedersen.

“It requires more time to find the right solutions,” he said. “We recognize that it is a challenging situation.”

But representatives of the fishing industry argued against the stay.

“We’ve tried — 14 months, countless hours, countless days not at sea — and it just seems like they’re stalling,” said Newport fisherman Todd Sutton.

The decision represents a reprieve for the $2-billion proposal, which is facing headwinds after fishermen complained that the orientation and tight spacing of the turbines would make it impossible for them to safely fish in grounds rich in lobster, Jonah crab and squid. On Nov. 19, the Fishermen’s Advisory Board, which advises the CRMC on fishing issues related to offshore wind, unanimously voted to deny its support to the proposal.

Since that vote, staff in Gov. Gina Raimondo’s office have spoken with Vineyard Wind and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the lead permitting agency for the project, but no further changes were made to the proposal.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Vineyard Wind Project Hit with Setbacks as Deadline Approaches

November 27, 2018 — The influx of offshore wind energy isn’t without its hiccups as developers negotiate with regulatory agencies and fishermen to get their projects approved as deadlines approach.

Vineyard Wind, the 94-turbine wind facility proposed for south of Martha’s Vineyard, was dealt a setback recently when it was denied an extension to complete a review by Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC).

The developers, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables LLC, already received additional time and wanted a seven-week extension to settle objections from fishermen and CRMC staff. The project is under pressure to get approved so that it can meet deadlines for financing and qualify for a federal tax credit.

At issue is the layout of the project. Fishermen want wide corridors, specifically a mile or wider oriented east to west. Current plans offer two 1-mile corridors, with only one running east to west. As an alternative, Vineyard Wind proposed using larger turbines with nearly 10 megawatts of capacity, thereby reducing the number of towers to 84 and shrinking the project’s footprint.

According to Vineyard Wind, the bigger turbines would be the largest available commercially, but pose risk to the project because they haven’t received design certification.

Vineyard Wind also offered to pay the fishermen for lost income. Details of the compensation proposal would be negotiated with fishermen and would consist of funds paid to boat owners and/or programs that support the commercial fishing industry. Vineyard Wind also offered to contribute to fisheries studies of the federal wind-energy zone.

CRMC said it was open to another extension but only after good-faith efforts were made with the Fishermen’s Advisory Board (FAB), a CRMC-affiliated committee.

Read the full story at ecoRI

BOEM to present next offshore wind energy areas in New York

November 27, 2018 — A new chart of potential offshore wind energy areas by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management accounts for concerns raised by the maritime and commercial fishing industries in the crowded New York Bight.

“There is a lot going on there,” said Walter Cruickshank, acting director of BOEM, which will present its draft plan in New York City at the Hotel Pennsylvania on Wednesday. “We got a lot of great input from a lot of sources.”

BOEM outlined large “call areas” for potential wind power development in the New York Bight, a heavily trafficked arm of the Atlantic between Cape May, N.J., and Montauk, N.Y. The draft chart released Nov. 14 shows primary and secondary areas for wind development, which BOEM could develop into future lease offerings to offshore wind energy developers.

One recommendation was for an offshore tug and tow transit lane diagonally across the bight between Cape May and Montauk, with wide lanes and safety setbacks from future turbine arrays. The Coast Guard and maritime groups likewise want ample buffers around the three existing shipping separation lanes leading in and out of New York Harbor.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

BOEM elaborates on map for New York Bight areas for offshore wind

November 26, 2018 — Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, provided some details to an otherwise ambiguous map the agency released last week for potential offshore wind sites along the New York Bight Call area.

The map featured four sections of land off the coasts of Long Island and New Jersey and included shaded areas deemed as “primary recommendations” and “secondary recommendations.”

The labels left commissioners at the Port Authority confused.

“There’s secondary and primary leases,” Port Director Ed Washburn said at last week’s meeting. “We’re not exactly sure what secondary or primary means other than one they prefer over the other. We don’t know exactly why.”

In an interview with The Standard-Times earlier this week, Cruickshank elaborated on the map.

“It’s not a decision yet,” he said “But it’s things we want to get some feedback on before we make a decision on what areas we’ll conduct the environmental analysis on.”

The idea of primary and secondary areas, Cruickshank said, was to elicit discussion from stakeholders. However, they also represented areas where BOEM felt the least conflict existed among fishermen, wind developers, the Department of Defense, environmentalists and others claiming any kind of value in the areas.

The conflicts that arose in the areas not shaded at all, Cruickshank said, were too large to overcome.

“Any area you pick is still going to have some conflicts,” Cruickshank said. “This was the primary sort of our view where there might be some ability to manage conflict and move forward.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Group calls on Maine’s federal reps to oppose offshore drilling along entire Atlantic coast

November 19, 2018 — A small group of environmental activists gathered in Bangor Saturday to call on Maine’s congressional delegates to express more opposition to offshore drilling.

Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree all previously voiced their stances opposing offshore drilling in New England, but the group called on them to prevent the practice along the entire Atlantic Coast.

“What we want is for them to increase their opposition and oppose offshore drilling in the entire Atlantic ocean, not just in New England,” said Sarah Starman, a field organizer with Oceana. “We believe that drilling anywhere will affect everyone because oil spills don’t respect state boundaries.”

Senator Collins and King sent a joint letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke back in January — expressing their stances against drilling in New England.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree also voiced her opposition directly to the Secretary during an Appropriations Committee meeting in June.

“Countless Maine jobs depend on the health of the ocean. The Maine lobster, aquaculture, and tourism industries are among the many critical industries dependent on Maine’s pristine waters, and even a minor spill could irreparably damage the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine,” Senator Collins said in a written statement. “That’s why I oppose any effort to open waters off the coast of Maine to offshore drilling, which could negatively affect the health of Maine’s fisheries and other coastal resources, threatening to harm not only the environment but the state’s economy as well.”

Senator King also said during a floor speech in February:

“In Maine…we depend upon the coast,” Senator King said. “Tourism and visitation to our beaches and coastal communities are a billion dollar industry, the largest single employer in our state. So that is an enormous economic engine that is currently working, and running, and powering at least a portion of the economy in our state. And of course, on my tie, I have lobsters. A $1.7 billion a year industry in Maine and it promises to be even stronger as processing is developed. We also have an offshore fishing industry, shrimp, shellfish. It is enormously important. It is part of who we are in the state of Maine.”

Read the full story at News Center Maine

America’s Wind Farms Are Ready to Go It Alone

November 15, 2018 — A coming-of-age moment is bearing down on the U.S. wind power industry, and proponents say it’s ready—well, mostly ready.

For a quarter-century, the industry has been supported by federal tax credits that helped it attract $250 billion in investments and create 100,000 jobs, according to the American Wind Energy Association. That support ends next year, but analysts and executives say the credits have done what they were supposed to do: make the industry competitive.

Established supply chains, taller towers, bigger rotor blades, and the use of artificial intelligence to boost efficiency have made wind power cheaper than coal and on a par with natural gas. And soon enough, offshore wind farms could expand the renewable energy source’s influence beyond rural states such as Texas and Kansas to the high-population corridors along the East and West coasts. “Wind has matured now,” says Chuck Grassley, the Republican senator from Iowa who first championed the tax credits in 1992. “It’s ready to compete.”

Since North America’s first offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island in late 2016, the industry has secured a dozen offshore leases from the federal government to build similar operations elsewhere. Dominion Energy Inc. got in under the federal tax credit deadline with its plan to build a pilot wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach by late 2020. On Nov. 2, state regulators approved the plan for a two-turbine farm expected to cost $300 million and generate 12 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 3,000 homes.

Success could help Dominion in its quest to build turbines that would generate 2 gigawatts of power on an adjacent site. “Utilities make 20- and 30-year decisions, and they’ve kind of voted with their pocketbook,” says Chris Brown, president of turbine maker Vestas North America. “We’re ready to compete in a subsidy-free world.”

In 2007 wind was the prevalent renewable energy source in just seven states. By last year that had grown to 16 states, according to a September report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In Kansas, wind generated 36 percent of state power in 2017, putting it just behind coal, at 38 percent. In the first six months of 2018, though, wind jumped ahead, 42 percent to 35 percent, the EIA report showed.

Development of new plants will likely slow without the benefit of the credits, analysts say, but the industry has momentum on its side. “The fact is, there will be a slowdown,” says Declan Flanagan, chief executive officer of renewable power developer Lincoln Clean Energy LLC. “Obviously it’s a value stream that goes away. We’ve got to make it up by competitiveness.”

It won’t be easy. While developers have spent $1.1 trillion globally on new wind farms over the past dozen years, more money is going into solar energy systems these days. And the massive turbines needed to generate gigawatts of power, which can rise 600 feet in the air, have spurred protests both on- and offshore, slowing development. The complaints: The turbines are unsightly, and there are concerns the offshore plants will hurt fishing, a key East Coast industry.

Read the full story at Bloomberg Business Week