Saving Seafood

New Jersey faces lawsuit over offshore wind project

October 19, 2023 — A coalition of groups are suing to block New Jersey’s first offshore wind project, arguing that it will hurt marine life, the state’s fishing and tourism industries and the local economy.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, argues that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fast-tracked approval of the Ocean Wind 1 project without conducting a required federal review of the potential impact to the environment, historic properties along the coastline and the state’s commercial fishing industry.

In the 71-page complaint, lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that in the push to develop offshore wind, the Biden administration has “shortcut the statutory and regulatory requirements that were enacted to protect our nation’s environmental and natural resources, its industries, and its people.”

The coalition argues in the legal filing that developing offshore wind farms in New Jersey raises “significant concerns” about the impact on the fishing industry, whales and other marine life and tourism in coastal communities. They say it will negatively impact property values, tax revenues and the local economy.

Read the full article at the Center Square

Jersey Shore is at risk if feds keep rushing 1st offshore wind farm, lawsuit claims

October 18, 2023 — In its first federal lawsuit against agencies that have so far pushed ahead New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, Cape May County in a coalition with others alleged Tuesday in a lawsuit that the development has been rushed at the peril of ocean life, the fishing industry and the local economy.

No offshore wind turbines currently spin along the Jersey Shore but that could change in the next two years.

The latest series of project approvals for Ocean Wind 1 — from Ørsted, a Danish wind developer — include Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s “Record of Decision” in July and the OK at the end of September to start onshore construction.

Plans for Ocean Wind 1, one of at least two Ørsted projects, call for as many as 98 offshore wind turbines reaching more than 850 feet about 15 miles from the coasts of Cape May and Atlantic Counties.

In its own September authorization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, laid out rules to ensure Ørsted protects whales and dolphins while installing wind turbines.

Ørsted said last week, behind a $100 million guarantee, that Ocean Wind 1 is on schedule to reach commercial operation in stages in 2024 and with a 2025 deadline in mind.

Read the full article at NJ.com

 

Orsted offshore wind farm hit with lawsuit by New Jersey county

October 18, 2023 — A southern New Jersey county on Tuesday challenged federal approvals for a major wind farm in U.S. waters off the state’s coast, saying the project’s turbines and construction will harm endangered animals like whales, kill birds and impact local tourism.

The County of Cape May and several local tourism and fishing business groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in New Jersey federal court, seeking to stop construction on Danish developer Orsted’s multi-billion dollar Ocean Wind project.

The county said the government violated federal environmental review and endangered species protection laws when it finalized a host of environmental and construction permits for the project earlier this year.

Reviews for those permits failed to adequately account for potential environmental harms from the project and should be vacated, according to the lawsuit. The county said underwater noise and vessel strikes during construction will harm endangered North Atlantic right whales and sea turtles, and that rotating wind turbine blades would kill migrating birds.

Read the full article at Reuters

Cape May County, fishermen challenge approval of Ørsted wind project

October 18, 2023 — Led by Cape May County, N.J., elected officials, a coalition of fishermen, tourism businesses and environmental activists filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey challenging federal government approvals for Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 1 project.

The court action is aimed “against multiple federal agencies and the leadership of those agencies, alleging that federal regulators have abandoned their obligations to protect the environment and Atlantic coastal marine life in favor of an inappropriate collusion with Big Wind interests,” according to a statement issued by county officials.

Plaintiffs on the complaint include the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Wildwood Hotel Motel Association, the environmental group Clean Ocean Action, the Garden State Seafood Association, LaMonica Fine Foods, Lund’s Fisheries, and Surfside Seafood Products.

Cape May officials and seaside communities like Ocean City, N.J., have opposed the planned 1,100-megawatt turbine array as a threat to their tourism economy, while Clean Ocean Action activists see New Jersey’s wind power ambitions as a threat to the marine environment.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Cape chamber, Board of Commissioners sue federal government over offshore wind approval

October 17, 2023 — A group of plaintiffs that includes the Cape May County Board of Commissioners and the county Chamber of Commerce is suing the federal government over claims it failed to factor in impacts to the county’s $7.4 billion tourism industry when it granted approvals for offshore wind development.

The suit names the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Department of the Interior and the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was filed Tuesday in Camden federal court, records show.

BOEM declined to comment on pending litigation. NOAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit follows Ørsted, the Danish energy company building wind turbines off the coast, putting down a $100 million guarantee that the first windmills of its 161,000-acre Ocean Wind I project will begin generating power by December 2025.

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Revises Terms as It Issues Its Largest Wind Power Solicitation

October 17, 2023 — Rhode Island is moving forward with the state’s largest renewable energy solicitation after announcing it would form a three-state partnership with Connecticut and Massachusetts to review and coordinate a regional approach to offshore renewable energy. At the same time, Rhode Island is also providing additional latitude to developers to provide possible avenues to address the emerging financial challenges in the development of offshore wind energy resources.

The neighboring states each have recently had major offshore projects fall apart due to inflation pressures as well as rising costs due to supply chain problems and concerns over tax credits and incentive programs. Massachusetts agreed to let two projects pay fines to walk away from existing power purchase agreements and recently Connecticut also established a fine for a developer to cancel its power agreement. Last year, Rhode Island decided not to proceed with a proposed project saying that it was concerned over the affordability of the power coming from the offshore wind farm, while last week New York State turned down applications from developers that were seeking to increase the cost of power also citing inflation and rising costs to develop the projects.

Rhode Island’s state power company, Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued its anticipated request for proposals from offshore energy developers. The company is seeking to secure an additional 1.2 GW of offshore power to help address the state’s energy needs. The window to submit proposals runs through January 31, 2024, with the company saying that any winning bids will be announced in the summer of 2024.

Read the full article at the Maritime Executive

CALIFORNIA: ‘Another Attempt to Industrialize the Coast’: California’s Central Coast Residents Work to Stop — or at Least Slow Down — Offshore Wind

October 17, 2023 — Joey Racano used to have a dining room table. Now the sunlit nook off the family kitchen more often than not serves as a conference room. The table is covered with maps, thick binders bulging with tech reports, towers of meeting minutes, abandoned coffee mugs — the accumulation of years of community vigilance.

On this day, his home is a lively place where a handful of locals are discussing one of California’s most complex and audacious initiatives — loading the Pacific Ocean with sprawling wind farms that float 20 miles from shore.

Read the full article at Santa Barbra Independent

RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island Energy seeks proposals for additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore energy

October 16, 2023 — Rhode Island Energy on Friday issued a request for proposals to secure an additional 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind, the largest renewable energy solicitation ever sought for the state. 

This latest request, previously announced by Gov. Daniel J. McKee on Sept. 28, comes a week after Rhode Island joined New England’s first multistate offshore wind memorandum of understanding with Massachusetts and Connecticut.  

The MOU is meant to pave the way for a coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits offshore wind energy generation through their own procurements. 

“Bringing more affordable offshore wind opportunities to Rhode Island and our region is a key priority for us,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy. “We know there’s a sense of urgency to get more renewables online and we believe this next RFP will give developers a new, unique opportunity to think creatively about how they can meet the state’s clean energy and economic development goals, while balancing our customers’ affordability needs.” 

Read the full article at PBN

Massachusetts wind farm dodges lawsuits over environmental, fishing concerns

October 16, 2023 — A U.S. judge has rejected challenges to federal environmental permits and construction approvals for a $4 billion offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, which commercial fishing groups have claimed will harm whales and impair their businesses.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston on Thursday tossed the final two federal district court lawsuits directly challenging the Vineyard Wind project roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, which would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the country.

Commercial fishing groups including Seafreeze Shoreside Inc and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance had challenged federal environment and construction permits for the project in two lawsuits filed in 2021 and 2022. They had claimed construction on the 62-turbine farm would cut fishermen off from valuable fishing areas and destroy the habitat of the North Atlantic right whale.

But Talwani said the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act gives regulators at the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) discretion to balance the economic concerns of fishermen with the need for the development of offshore renewable energy projects, which are key to federal plans to decarbonize the U.S. electric grid. She found the fishing groups had not adequately shown their fishing business interests could be seriously harmed if whales are injured or harassed during construction, and so cannot sue over those concerns.

Read the full article at Reuters

NEW YORK: New York Refuses Revisions to Offshore Wind Power Agreements Creating Doubt

October 16, 2023 — New York State has put its ambitious plans for offshore wind energy in jeopardy after it declined requests from larger developers to renegotiate their power purchase agreements increasing rates to reflect current market conditions. The decision follows similar situations that have emerged in both Massachusetts and more recently Connecticut which are also threatening projects, while New York and New Jersey officials also continue to seek to push forward with the plans for offshore wind energy.

The decision of the New York State Public Service Commission on Thursday has set off a new round of industry fears. The price of the stocks of developers Ørsted and Equinor both were driven sharply lower on the news while the companies only said they would be forced to re-examine several projects. Ørsted’s stock price is now down by more than half from its 52-week high, falling nearly an additional nine percent for its U.S.-based depository receipts on Friday. While many other stocks in the sector were down today, Equinor rebounded closing the day up more than two percent.

The NYSPSC set off the concerns by announcing it had denied petitions from Empire Offshore Wind and Beacon Wind, being developed by Equinor and BP, and Sunrise Wind, being developed by Ørsted. Each of the petitions had requested an order from the commission that would have directed the New York power regulator New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to incorporate an adjustment mechanism into existing Renewable Energy Credit and the offshore wind power purchase agreements. The companies cited the impact of inflation and cost increases due to supply chain and other issues, which they say have combined to change the financial viability of the projects.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive