Saving Seafood

U.S. Offshore Wind: Still Affordable?

January 26, 2023 — Later this year, the 800-megawatt capacity Vineyard Wind 1 project will begin delivering electricity to the Massachusetts grid. And lead owner Avangrid Inc along with its 81.65 percent owner Iberdrola SA have indicated the project remains on budget for when it enters full commercial operations, expected in early 2024.

After that, however, the way ahead for U.S. offshore wind is considerably less clear. The Biden Administration is supportive as ever, pledging last month to expedite permitting to the construction stage for at least 16 offshore wind arrays by 2025.

That now includes a published draft environmental review of Dominion Energy’s proposed 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) facility. The project will be developed with a vessel owned by the company and now being built in Texas, which should allow management to control costs and potentially profit by leasing for other offshore wind construction.

Read the full article at Forbes

Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push

January 26, 2023 — The school-bus-size humpback whale that washed ashore on a narrow beach in Brigantine, N.J., this month weighed in at 12 tons and took a heavy emotional toll on coastal towns helplessly witnessing a spate of such deaths.

The humpback was one of nine large whales to get stranded over six weeks on or near beaches in the Northeast, not far from where developers of hundreds of offshore wind turbines are engaged in a flurry of preconstruction activity. The deaths have prompted pushback against the projects even though government scientists say they are unrelated.

It’s the latest in a string of threats to a fledgling offshore wind industry that climate advocates say is central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Surging costs from inflation and labor shortages have developers saying their projects may not be profitable. A raft of lawsuits and pending federal restrictions to protect sensitive wildlife could further add to costs. The uncertainty has clouded bright expectations for massive growth in U.S. offshore wind, which the Biden administration and several state governments have bet big on in their climate plans.

Read the full article at The Washington Post

MAINE: Maine lawmakers reveal plan to bring floating wind turbines to Gulf of Maine

January 25, 2023 — A big plan was revealed in Augusta Tuesday to bring floating wind turbines to the Gulf of Maine.

The bill to jumpstart offshore wind development was unveiled at the State House.

Supporters claim the bill is about boosting responsible offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, saying it will help drive down energy costs across the board.

They believe Maine could become an industry leader in offshore wind as a potential major source of clean energy.

Read the full article at WGME

 

Vineyard Wind opponents ask federal judge to halt project over environmental concerns

January 26, 2023 — Opponents of an offshore wind turbine farm under construction south of Martha’s Vineyard are asking a federal judge to halt the project, and require federal authorities to take another look at the project’s potential impacts on the environment and wildlife.

The nonprofit group Nantucket Residents Against Turbines is trying to put the brakes on Vineyard Wind, which was approved in May 2021 by the Biden administration, and is being built a dozen or so miles off the resort island.

Amy DiSibio, a member of the group’s board, told reporters before a hearing Tuesday in US District Court in Boston that federal endangered species and environmental laws were not “carefully considered” when the project was approved, and deserve much more scrutiny, she said.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

CONSTANCE GEE: ‘Strategy’ to protect right whales from offshore wind development is recipe for extinction

January 25, 2023 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a draft of their strategy to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) from the hazards of offshore wind development this past fall.

The report is a heartbreaking portrayal of the plight of the 336 remaining right whales. Approximately 230 animals have died over the past decade. Autopsies and photo documentation conclude that fishing gear entanglement and vessel strikes have caused the deaths. “Stressors” of industrialized ocean noise and dwindling food sources have contributed to reduced health and compromised body condition in 42% of the remaining population.

“Human-caused mortality is so high,” BOEM scientists state, “that no adult NARW has been confirmed to have died from natural causes in several decades; for a species that might live a century, most animals have a low probability of surviving past 40.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

14 whale deaths along US East Coast remain a mystery

January 24, 2023 — Local officials and environmentalists are trying to find out what is behind the mysterious death of 14 whales along the US east coast since 1 December.

Some are blaming the deaths on the development of an offshore wind farm in the area.

Officials, however, say they have found no evidence to suggest wind farms are to blame.

Since 2016, they have been tracking the “unusual mortality” of humpback whales along the eastern shores.

Over the past six years, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tallied 178 dead humpback whales from Florida to Maine.

NOAA performed necropsies on about half the whales and found that of those, 40% of the deaths were caused by human interaction, either being caught in fishing gear or struck by vessels.

Sperm whales, an endangered species, have also been found dead along the eastern coasts.

The most recent death of a humpback whale, which washed ashore in Maryland on 16 January, prompted a press conference by NOAA officials and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), as it came amid mounting concerns a local wind farm development was to blame.

Read the full article at BBC News

Construction for nation’s largest commercial offshore wind farm underway, but challenges loom

January 23, 2023 — Offshore wind industry experts say that wind could be the answer to minimize our carbon footprint, and here in the U.S., we’re seeing one of the country’s first offshore wind projects come to life off the coast of Massachusetts where the wind will be used as an emissions-free energy source.

Vineyard Wind is currently constructing the country’s largest commercial offshore wind project, and the goal is to use electricity produced by wind turbines to power homes starting in 2023.

“We’re about a year into onshore construction, and we’ve just begun offshore,” said Andrew Doba, spokesperson for Vineyard Wind. “One spin of the turbine will power a home for 24 hours in the U.S.”

There will be 62 turbines spaced about a mile apart that will produce power for about 400,000 homes. The turbines will be constructed about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Underwater cables will bring that energy from the turbines to Covell’s Beach in Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Read the full article at Fox Weather

NEW JERSEY: Danish firm takes over New Jersey offshore wind project

January 20, 2023 — A Danish energy developer will become the solitary owner of New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm in a deal announced Wednesday by the company.

Ørsted said it has acquired the remaining 25% equity stake in Ocean Wind 1 from the Public Service Enterprise Group, giving it 100% ownership of the project.

Neither entity disclosed costs or other details of the transaction, which is expected to be finalized in the first half of the year.

The project, expected to be completed by the end of 2024, calls for developing 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind in waters located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey.

Read the full article at the Center Square

NEW JERSEY: A Battle Over Wind and Whales Is Brewing in New Jersey

January 20, 2023 — Several New Jersey environmental groups are defending offshore wind development after seven dead humpback and sperm whales washed up along New York and New Jersey coasts in the past month.

Last week, environmental group Clean Ocean Action called for a pause in ocean-floor preparation work for future wind projects. The group and other supporters called on President Joe Biden to investigate the recent whale deaths recorded in New Jersey and New York. “The federal government should have been here with busloads of people really doing an examination if they were taking this seriously,” Cindy Zipf, the executive director of Clean Ocean Action, told NJ.com.

Read the full article at Gizmodo

NEW JERSEY: Here’s what federal scientists say is likely killing whales off the NJ coast

January 19, 2023 — Seven whale deaths along the coasts of New Jersey and New York in as many weeks have marine scientists seeking answers and federal authorities making assurances that offshore wind development is not to blame.

On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, held a phone conference with journalists across the country to address what the agency called an ongoing “unusual mortality event” among humpback whales.

Since early December, four dead humpback whales and one sperm whale have washed ashore New Jersey beaches. Another two whales washed up dead on Long Island beaches.

Read the full article at the Asbury Park Press.