Saving Seafood

Federal grant for Maine offshore wind

October 6, 2020 — Maine is getting a $2.16 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to map out plans for an offshore wind energy industry, and join other Northeast states already promoting their own vast hopes for turbine arrays.

“Unleashing American innovation is critical to our global competitiveness,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in announcing the grant Oct. 1. “This project will allow Maine to capitalize on its technical leadership in the wind power sector to diversify and grow the state’s economy and make it more resilient.”

The EDA grant to the Maine Governor’s Energy Office will be matched with $267,624 in state funds and $112,457 in local funds, according to federal officials.

The money will be used to “create a roadmap for establishing a floating offshore wind power industry by examining manufacturing processes, supply chains, port facilities, transportation systems, shipbuilding opportunities, ecosystem relationships, workforce development plans, power interconnections, exports, and economic impacts,” according to Commerce Department official Dana Gartzke.

Maine has followed twists and turns in developing offshore wind. Deeper waters of the Gulf of Maine would require the use of floating turbines, unlike the fixed foundations planned for big projects on the outer continental shelf off southern New England.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

NEW YORK: Trustees on Board With Offshore Wind Plan

October 2, 2020 — The East Hampton Town Trustees unanimously approved signing on to the joint proposal submitted two weeks ago by Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy to the New York State Public Service Commission in support of the proposed South Fork Wind farm, to be situated approximate-ly 35 miles off Montauk Point.

Before the vote during their virtual meeting on Monday, the trustees, in consultation with outside counsel retained for navigating their role in the wind farm proposal, emphasized that the approval they were codifying supports “only those provisions that address the public need for the project and the construction, operation, maintenance, repair, and decommissioning of those portions of the project that are proposed to be located within” trustee jurisdiction, specifically the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott, where the developers intend to land the wind farm’s export cable.

By signing on to the joint proposal, which details elements of the project from construction to its decommissioning 25 years later, the trustees are not addressing issues such as the wind farm’s impact on utility rates, for example, said Daniel Spitzer of Hodgson Russ L.L.C., counsel to the trustees. “You’re not offering an opinion that New York State needs this particular wind farm,” he said. That determination, rather, is the role of the Public Service Commission, which in order for the project to proceed must issue a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need under Article VII of the Public Service Law.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

Trump’s Offshore Oil Ban to Halt Coastal Wind Farms Too

September 30, 2020 — President Donald Trump’s decision to rule out energy development along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas will bar not just offshore oil and gas drilling — but coastal wind farms too.

The broad reach of Trump’s recent orders, which was confirmed by the Interior Department agency that oversees offshore energy development, comes as renewable developers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars snapping up the rights to build wind farms along the U.S. East Coast.

At issue are recent Trump memos ruling out new oil and gas leasing along Florida, Georgia and South and North Carolina from July 1, 2022 until June 30, 2032, issued after some Republicans pressed for a drilling ban and as the president courts voters concerned about the environment. On Friday, Trump said he would expand the offshore energy moratorium to include Virginia, though he has not yet issued a directive encompassing the territory.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Nearly 50 Fishing Industry Leaders Call For More Funding For NMFS And Other Changes To OFFSHORE Act

September 29, 2020 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

48 fishing industry leaders representing fishing organizations from across the country submitted a letter yesterday to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources recommending improvements to the OFFSHORE Act. These proposed changes would ensure that research and mitigation funds are properly directed and efficiently used, and that federal labor standards are applied consistently to offshore development activities.

The OFFSHORE Act, officially the Opening Federal Financial Sharing to Heighten Opportunities for Renewable Energy Act of 2020, would make several changes to how offshore wind construction is conducted and how research funds are allocated. It would allocate a large portion of offshore wind lease sales to state governments, and allocate some to the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund for research grants. It would also extend provisions of the Jones Act to require offshore wind developers to use American labor for production activities.

In their letter, the industry leaders called on the Senate to direct OFFSHORE Act funding to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to “conduct research, planning and environmental review, and fisheries monitoring.” Fully funding NMFS is “the highest research funding priority for any bill addressing [offshore wind],” they wrote, because NMFS has the expertise to contribute to the development process, but faces potentially severe disruptions to its work and currently lacks the resources to keep pace with new developments. These disruptions include a loss of access for its survey efforts, which rely on low levels of scientific uncertainty to accurately inform stock assessments and sustainable fisheries catch levels. NMFS also has the unique ability to conduct cooperative research, which is key to ensuring inclusivity among fishery and regional stakeholders.

Read the full release here

Wind Farm Companies Agree To Compensate Fishermen And Monitor EMF Emissions

September 24, 2020 — Following months of negotiations with interested parties, skeptics and outright opponents of the South Fork Wind Farm, the project’s developers have submitted a new outline of their construction proposal that adds a number of new conditions that bow somewhat to the demands of fishermen, environmentalists and lawmakers.

The developers have agreed to a compensation plan for commercial fishermen who may suffer damaged or lost gear or lose fishing days because of some component of the wind farm’s construction and operation. They have also agreed to conduct monitoring of electromagnetic pulses from the power cable over the first five years of the wind farm’s operations and a mandated re-nourishment of the beach at Beach Lane if erosion from storms exposes the cable or significantly lessens the depth at which it is buried.

The new outline, called a “joint proposal,” also puts a finer point on the myriad details of how the construction will be conducted on land in Wainscott, with strict parameters for the timing of work, noise impacts, access to roads and beaches during construction and the extent to which the areas of work are restored at the conclusion of construction.

Read the full story at the Sag Harbor Express

The 2020 Election And The Future Of Offshore Wind Power In The U.S.

September 23, 2020 — There are nine offshore wind projects currently on the drawing board for the Atlantic coast. Northeast governors need those wind turbines to help meet their states’ clean energy goals, and are competing for the land-based businesses that will supply the new industry — and could bring tens of thousands of jobs to the region. Industry analysts estimate that investment in U.S. offshore wind could hit $108 billion by 2030.

But this blue-sky vision has one large uncertainty: Donald Trump.

“I never understood wind,” the president said last December. “You know I know windmills very much. I’ve studied it better than anybody. I know it’s very expensive.”

Trump says windmills, as he calls them, are also noisy, ugly and cause cancer.

But as the election approaches there are signs the Trump administration’s position on wind energy could be shifting.

Read the full story at WBUR

Congress could act to limit foreign workers in U.S. offshore wind

September 23, 2020 — The following is an excerpt from a story originally published by National Fisherman:

Foreign-flag vessels and crews employed in the early stages of U.S. offshore wind energy are undercutting opportunities for American mariners, an industry spokesman told members of Congress Tuesday.

At an average pay around $70,000 “marine jobs are just the kind of jobs that government policy should be promoting, said Aaron Smith, executive director of the Offshore Marine Services Association told members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

But during 2020, 12 to 15 foreign flag vessels were working on wind energy projects in Northeast U.S. waters, compared to eight to 10 U.S. flag vessels, Smith estimated.

Operated by companies often based in Norway and the United Kingdom, the vessels are typically manned by mariners from nations including Russia, Ukraine and India, paid about half compared to pay rates for U.S. mariners – at a time when 11,000 American mariners have lost work during the covid-19 pandemic, said Smith.

Smith said members of his association have reported losing contracts to foreign vessels whose owners can outbid with 25 percent lower day rates. Those foreign crews work in the industry under a special visa program for mariners that should be reformed, said Smith.

“I think those (crew) visas should follow the nationality of the (vessel) owner. If you have a Norwegian vessel, you should hire a Norwegian crew. If you don’t want to hire Norwegians, you should be employing an American crew,” he said.

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Alan Lowenthal said he and colleague Rep. John Garamendi, both D-Calif., will sponsor an amendment to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to address the situation Smith talked about.

There is a long history of OMSA and its supporters in Congress pushing to preserve Jones Act protections for the U.S. offshore industry from more foreign competition. That’s been focused for years on the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry, but now offshore wind is the new arena.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NJ legislators call to suspend offshore wind approval

September 16, 2020 — A trio of New Jersey legislators who have promoted offshore wind energy development have called for suspending state approval of Ørsted’s Ocean Wind project, alleging the company has so far “failed to deliver” on its promises of new jobs and economic development in the state.

In a Sept. 9 letter to state utility regulators, New Jersey state Senate president Steve Sweeney and Assembly members John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro, all Democrats with strong ties to construction and industrial union labor, cited pledges by Ørsted to hire all union labor, provide grants to spur business owned by minorities and women, and build monopile foundations in the state.

“We are starting to speak with our colleagues throughout the Northeast about their experiences with wind energy companies, including Ørsted,” they state in the letter. “We are asking if these companies, including Ørsted, have made the same representations in other states and have equally failed to deliver.”

The state Board of Public Utilities, which in June 2019 approved use of renewable energy credits for the Ocean Wind project, should ask regulators in other states if wind developers’ economic guarantees have borne fruit yet, say the legislators, who sponsored a 2010 law requiring that wind developers provide certain economic benefits to the New Jersey economy.

“If these concerns are validated, we request that you terminate the award and immediately commence a new and more transparent process for offshore wind project applicants,” they wrote. “This is of the utmost importance given the significant amount of public money being utilized to fund this project.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Hampton Roads plan to bring offshore wind supply chain to region gets GO Virginia funding

September 15, 2020 — A plan to bring the makers of huge offshore wind turbines to Hampton Roads has gained financial support from Virginia’s statewide economic development initiative.

GO Virginia has awarded a $529,788 grant to the Hampton Roads Alliance to attract a supply chain for the offshore wind industry to the region. The economic development agency will lead a team of organizations in the project, including the Port of Virginia, the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Old Dominion University and local chambers of commerce.

Part of the grant will be used to hire two staff positions at the economic development alliance, one of which has been filled. Matt Smith started two weeks ago as director of offshore wind for the organization. The alliance also plans to hire a marketing specialist. Alliance President and CEO Doug Smith declined to reveal the salaries of the two positions.

As part of the grant terms, the economic development alliance will provide matching funding, Doug Smith said. The economic development alliance will also continue to fully fund the program going forward. The Alliance is funded by 11 member localities — Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Isle of Wight County, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Suffolk and Virginia Beach — and more than 70 private-sector investors.

Read the full story at Inside Business

RHODE ISLAND: Ratepayers On Hook for Portion of Block Island Wind Farm Cable Mess

September 15, 2020 — National Grid and Deepwater Wind, now Ørsted, were given a break by Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) when the agency granted the use of a cost-saving method for burying the Block Island Wind Farm power cables at a New Shoreham beach. Both companies now likely regret that decision.

National Grid, which owns the high-voltage power line from Block Island to Narragansett, expects to pay $30 million for its share of the reconstruction, which will require horizontal directional drilling. The state’s primary electric utility will recover the expense through an undetermined surcharge on ratepayers’ bills.

“While exact bill impacts won’t be available for some time, we don’t anticipate major fluctuations to those charges with these needed repairs,” National Grid spokesperson Ted Kresse said.

The power line from the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm reaches shore at Fred Benson Town Beach and leaves New Shoreham for Narragansett at Crescent Beach to the north. But keeping portions of the cable buried at Crescent Beach has been a struggle.

Read the full story at EcoRI