Saving Seafood

PAUL STEIDLER: New York’s reckless gamble on offshore wind power

November 14, 2019 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s all-out push for offshore wind power to be a major electricity source for New York City and Long Island takes the region into uncharted waters, fraught with recurring blackouts and significantly higher electricity costs. This is bad for public safety and the economy.

In July, Cuomo said, “New York will lead the way in developing the largest source of offshore wind power in the nation.” Currently, America has just one offshore wind facility, generating 30 megawatts of power, enough for about 24,000 homes.

The governor, though, wants 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. This is 300 times what is currently in use nationwide and 38% of New York’s current downstate electricity generating capacity of 25,007 megawatts.

Read the full story at New York Business

SARAH E. HUNT & CHARLES HERNICK: Trump’s Environmental Legacy Could Be the Rise of U.S. Offshore Wind

November 8, 2019 — The appetite for renewable energy is growing and the East Coast is a top target for companies looking to invest in wind energy. Sarah E. Hunt, with the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, and Charles Hernick, with Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, explain how wind could end up being President Trump’s environmental legacy if the administration stays true to its all-of-the-above approach to energy.

When President Donald Trump took office, he pledged to make America a powerhouse by embracing an all-of-the-above approach to energy. While the president has criticized wind energy, ironically, it may be his administration that green-lights Vineyard Wind and substantially unlocks America’s offshore wind potential.

While dozens of offshore wind projects have been developed over the past two decades from the U.K. to China, only one project has come online stateside. That is about to change.

The U.S. East Coast is a top target for energy companies interested in investing in offshore wind and will bring with development a substantial boon for workers and the economy while also accessing a previously untapped source of emission-free energy.

Read the full opinion piece at Bloomberg

PSEG subsidiary contemplates bigger stake in offshore wind

November 7, 2019 — PSEG Long Island’s sister power company is contemplating a second major offshore wind initiative with Danish energy giant, Orsted, in which it could acquire a stake in a massive New Jersey project, even as the company works to help implement separate Orsted wind farms for the South Fork and New York State.

PSEG Power announced last week that it had begun to seek approvals and analyze the prospect of acquiring a 25% stake in a 1,100-megawatt offshore wind farm for New Jersey called Ocean Wind. PSEG Power already had already been working to support the project. And it has a partnership with Orsted predecessor Deepwater Wind for a separate project in waters off New Jersey south of the planned Ocean Wind farm.

Deepwater Wind is the company that successfully bid for an originally 90-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts that will provide energy to the South Fork. The project was later expanded to 130 megawatts. PSEG Long Island’s power markets group provided the analysis that led to the recommendation of that project, which LIPA’s board approved in January 2017, after nods from town governments in East Hampton and Southampton.

Read the full story at Newsday

Mayflower Wind wins second Massachusetts bid for wind power

November 5, 2019 — An 804-megawatt plan by Mayflower Wind won the second Massachusetts state bid for offshore wind energy, as developers forge ahead despite a federal study of how the burgeoning new U.S. market may affect the commercial fishing industry and other maritime interests.

Mayflower Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDPR Offshore North America LLC, beat out Vineyard Wind and Bay State Wind, which hold adjoining federal leases the companies obtained south of Martha’s Vineyard, in the competition for the state power bid. Mayflower says it will deliver long-term power below the state’s original price cap of USD 84.23 (EUR 76.1) per megawatt-hour, and more than 10,000 jobs in state over the life of the project.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Virginia is all-in on offshore wind but Dominion’s decision raises questions about cost, competence

November 4, 2019 — It’s not every day that the names of a major utility and the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization share space on a banner. But at the American Wind Energy Association’s annual offshore wind conference earlier this month in Boston, the logos of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club and Dominion Energy bookended those of half a dozen state agencies, educational institutions and business development organizations on a banner proclaiming Virginia’s commitment to offshore wind.

The banner anchored a large corner booth showcasing the strengths Virginia brings to the growing industry. Broad stakeholder support is one advantage; unlike Massachusetts, Virginia has seen little opposition to its plans for developing the 112,799-acre offshore wind energy area 27 miles out from Virginia Beach.

This broad stakeholder support is the product of more than a decade of work on the part of researchers, environmental organizations, the business community and elected leaders from both parties.

For the Sierra Club and Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, offshore wind offers carbon-free, renewable energy and a way to position the Virginia as a leader in the green economy. For the Port of Virginia and Virginia Beach Economic Development, it brings new business opportunities. For Old Dominion University and Virginia Tidewater Community College, it’s a chance to train young people and participate in ground-breaking research in ocean science and engineering. And for Dominion Energy, it offers a new avenue for profit and a way to rebrand itself as a clean energy company without having to shed its core investments in fracked gas.

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury

Massachusetts picks lowest-price offshore wind option

October 31, 2019 — The Baker Administration announced Mayflower Wind as the winner of the state’s second offshore wind farm procurement, praising a proposal that the company said offered the lowest price and the least onshore investment of its three major offerings.

Few details about the price or the onshore investment were revealed, but Mayflower said in its original bid that the price would be “the lowest cost offshore wind energy ever in the US.” Mayflower is a joint venture of Shell New Energies and EDP Renewables.

The choice of the lowest-cost option is controversial because it touches on a sensitive policy issue. Officials on the South Coast have been pressing the Baker administration to focus more on onshore investment so that the state could begin to supply more and more of the supply chain for wind farms springing up along the coast. Gov. Charlie Baker is eager to see onshore industry develop, but he is wary of doing so at the cost of higher prices for power, which negatively affects customers and businesses across the state.

Mayflower laid out three options for a wind farm with a capacity of 804 megawatts. The first proposal, called “low cost energy,” offered the lowest price and some onshore investment. The second proposal, called “infrastructure and innovation,” offered a slightly higher price but promised more investment onshore. The third option, called “Massachusetts manufacturing,” offered the highest price but more onshore investment.

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

Sign up for Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Updates

October 31, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

U.S. offshore wind energy development is moving at a fast pace. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has created a new offshore wind updates email list to distribute updates on offshore wind energy developments that may affect Mid-Atlantic Council-managed fisheries.

These email updates will be sent about once per month and will contain relevant updates from the previous month; however, the Council makes no guarantees that they will contain the most current information or all potentially relevant updates.

To sign up for this list, go to http://www.mafmc.org/email-list, enter your email address and check the box for “Offshore Wind Updates.” If you are already subscribed to any other Council email lists, this will not affect your other subscriptions.

The first offshore wind update for October 31, 2019 is included below. If you do not sign up for the offshore wind updates list at the link above, you will not receive future updates on this topic.

Updates for October 31, 2019

1. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is seeking public comments on draft guidelines for lighting and marking of structures supporting renewable energy projects, including offshore wind projects. More information is available here.

2. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) finalized contracts with Equinor Wind US LLC for the Empire Wind project in the New York Bight and with Sunrise Wind LLC (a joint venture of Ørsted A/S and Eversource Energy) for the Sunrise Wind project south of Rhode Island.

  • Click here for the Fisheries Mitigation Plan for the Empire Wind Project.
  • Click here for the Fisheries Mitigation Plan for the Sunrise Wind Project.

3. NYSERDA published a report titled Launching New York’s Offshore Wind Industry: Phase 1.

4. Equinor Wind created a brochure describing feedback they have received from the fishing industry to date on the layout of offshore wind turbine arrays for their Empire and Boardwalk Wind projects off New York/northern New Jersey.

5. A graduate student at the University of Rhode Island is conducting an online survey of members of the commercial fishing industry on their preferences for offshore wind farm layouts. Click here to take the survey.

More Information

For information on specific projects, please see the individual developer webpages linked at: http://www.mafmc.org/northeast-offshore-wind.

All recent notices to mariners (e.g., notices of survey activities) received by the Council are posted at: http://www.mafmc.org/offshore-wind-notices.

If you wish to suggest an item for inclusion in the next month’s update, please email wind@mafmc.org.

Wind updates from the New England Fishery Management Council are included in their periodic news roundups. To sign up for New England Fishery Management Council updates, please email Janice Plante at jplante@nefmc.org.

Vineyard Wind Appoints Fisheries Liaison For CT

October 29, 2019 — Offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind has appointed Caela Howard its fisheries liaison for Connecticut.

Howard has spent the last decade working closely with fisheries in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and in this role, she will serve as the primary point of contact for fishing industry representatives in Connecticut. She will report to the company’s lead fisheries liaison, Crista Bank.

“Vineyard Wind is excited to welcome Caela Howard as our first Connecticut fisheries liaison,” states Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind. “Caela brings extensive experience working closely with fishermen across southern New England, and we look forward to the insight she will provide as we continue building strong relationships with fishing communities throughout the region.”

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

Offshore wind farms could “destroy” Delaware’s coastal tourism, Caesar Rodney Institute claims

October 28, 2019 — The Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Energy Competitiveness has petitioned Governor John Carney to take action, arguing that a wind farm off the coast of Delaware would “destroy” the state’s coastal tourism.

“In a few years the world’s largest industrial wind turbines will fill the horizon from Rehoboth Beach to Fenwick Island at six times the height of typical cell phone towers,” the institute wrote in a letter sent to the Governor.

“My research is showing offshore wind projects could destroy our beach economy,” Dave Stevenson, Director for the Center for Energy Competitiveness with the Caesar Rodney explained. “Tourists visit Eastern Sussex for the ocean, and a pristine view to the horizon is critical to that beach enjoyment.”

Ørsted, an energy company based in Denmark, is the company pushing the project and partnering with Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), who’s allowing the project to move forward after the company promised to invest as much as $18 million in Fenwick Island State Park.

Read the full story at WGMD

‘A Whole New Industry’: N.H. To Work With Neighboring States On Offshore Wind in Gulf of Maine

October 25, 2019 — New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts will work together on large-scale offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. Stakeholders from the three states met today in Manchester talk about the possibilities and obstacles for that new industry.

The event was hosted by the Environmental Business Council of New England at the state headquarters of Eversource, which is developing several large offshore wind projects elsewhere in the Northeast.

Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the state’s Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said at the meeting that he thinks Northern New England could add tens of thousands of jobs building these offshore turbine farms, and the transmission infrastructure to bring their power on-shore.

“This is not just a project. This is not just an individual, ‘we’re going to find a site and put a couple of turbines up,’” Caswell says. “This is the establishment of, really, a whole new industry.”

Read the full story at New Hampshire Public Radio