Saving Seafood

For Fishermen, Wind Farm Debate Contains A Dose Of Inevitability

June 12, 2019 — The head of the Ørsted U.S. Offshore wind energy company recently asked Wainscott residents to support his company’s plans to build the South Fork Wind Farm in the ocean off Block Island, even if they vehemently opposed a proposal to bring the power ashore in the tiny hamlet. Many said they planned to do just that.

The debate to be held on Tuesday, June 11, before officials from the New York State Public Service Commission will be heated, no doubt, but still will rage within an arena of inevitability.

At issue will be the landing of the power cable from the wind farm, in either Wainscott or Hither Hills—but based on the presumption that the 15 wind turbines will be constructed and that the cable must land somewhere.

Discussions of the wind farm among its most dead-set opponents, commercial fishermen, has turned decidedly in recent months, from stopping the project entirely to, instead, identifying ways to limit the negative impacts it wind farm could have—and that was even before the official public input phase of the construction and operations plan had begun.

Fishermen from Rhode Island recently inked a compensation agreement with Vineyard Wind, another wind farm development company seeking to build dozens of turbines in the ocean just beyond where the South Fork Wind Farm would rise. Those fishermen lamented that they signed the deal—which makes about $16 million available to them over 30 years, as compensation for losses in income from fishing that they might experience because of the wind farm—only because they felt hogtied, with the wind farm approaching like a couch tumbling downstairs as their negotiating leverage weakened.

Read the full story at 27East

US wind energy industry is booming, but tariffs pose a threat

June 11, 2019 — In 2008, Jason Urichich was at a crossroads. He lost his home and landscaping business in Youngstown, Ohio, and decided it was time for a change. He decided to pursue a six-month program at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Michigan for wind turbine repair.

“I was really interested in the small turbines, and at home I was trying to build one myself,” Urichich said. “I decided I didn’t know enough about it, and maybe I should go to school for it.”

A decade later that “maybe” turned into a career. He’s now a senior lead technician for Avangrid Renewables’ Locust Ridge Wind Farm in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The company employs some 300 technicians at its 60 commercial-scale wind facilities across the country. With five more under construction, Avangrid Renewables — which provides clean energy to major companies like Nike and Amazon’s AWS — is hiring dozens more nationwide, as demand continues to grow.

Read the full story at MSN

Connecticut Governor OKs 2 GW Offshore Wind Bill

June 11, 2019 — On Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont, D-Conn., signed a bill authorizing Connecticut to purchase up to 2 GW of offshore wind, or the equivalent of 30% of the state’s load, by the end of 2030.

The state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is required to initiate a request for proposals (RFP) within 14 days of the passage of the bill. DEEP must then set up a future schedule for procurements.

“Connecticut should be the central hub of the offshore wind industry in New England,” Lamont says. “This emerging industry has the potential to create hundreds of good-paying jobs for the residents of our state and drive economic growth in towns along our shoreline. And by delivering zero-carbon renewable energy, we can increase our region’s fuel security while also making significant progress toward meeting our climate goals. By adopting this new law, we are sending a clear message: Connecticut is serious about becoming a major player in the clean energy economy.”

Lamont thanks the Energy and Technology Committee’s co-chairs and ranking members – Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex; Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury; Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme; and Rep. Charles Ferraro, R-West Haven – for their leadership in working with his administration to draft the bipartisan legislation, H.B.7156, and achieve its approval. The bill, which was approved last month in the House of Representatives, was given legislative approval last Tuesday in the State Senate.

“With the stroke of a pen [Friday], Governor Lamont made history,” says Erich Stephens, chief development officer for Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables. “This legislation has the potential to make Connecticut a major player in offshore wind power, an industry that’s poised for tremendous growth in the coming years.”

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

Gov. Baker addresses pace of offshore wind development

June 11, 2019 — Poised to be the first state in the country to draw from utility-scale offshore wind power, Massachusetts has a responsibility to get it right and to position the offshore wind industry for long-term success dealing with climate change and delivering affordable power across the United States, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday morning.

The state’s approach to secure clean power for itself and to blaze a trail for other states might make it “a little bit annoying to some people along the way,” but is designed to balance predictability for developers and the build-out of a sturdy local supply chain with increasingly urgent calls to deal with the impacts of a changing climate.

In a keynote address to the U.S. Offshore Wind Conference, meeting this week in at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, the governor said the two things he hears most often when talking to people interested in the offshore wind industry is that Massachusetts is moving too quickly and that Massachusetts is not moving quickly enough.

“That makes me think we’re probably in just about the right spot because people who think we’re not going fast enough have a completely unrealistic view about actually what’s possible and when, and the people who think we are going too fast I think don’t appreciate the fact that time is not necessarily our friend when it comes to these issues,” Baker said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Habitat: NEFMC Discusses GSC HMA Research, Offshore Energy, New Model

June 11, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council covered a wide range of habitat-related issues during its June meeting in So. Portland, ME. These fell into three categories.

  • Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) Research Planning: This work is a follow-up to the Council’s Clam Dredge Framework, which was approved in December 2018 and is currently under review by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries). The framework proposes to allow hydraulic clam dredge and mussel dredge fishing within three exemption areas of the HMA, and it also proposes to create two large research-only areas to investigate whether surfclam and mussel dredging could occur within the areas without harming sensitive habitat.
  • Offshore Wind Updates: The Council received an overview of the status of offshore wind development in the Northeast region.

Read the full release here

Shell, EDF Offshore Wind Venture Teams With Rutgers

June 10, 2019 — Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC – a 50/50 joint venture between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America – has signed a memorandum of understanding with New Jersey-based Rutgers University to advance ocean research and monitoring in support of offshore wind development.

The five-year cooperative agreement, which will initiate this summer, will help bolster ongoing efforts at the Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL). Together, Atlantic Shores and RUCOOL will focus on advancing approaches to collecting and analyzing meteorological, oceanographic and marine bioacoustic data. The work will build upon efforts RUCOOL is already undertaking in partnership with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU).

The Atlantic Shorts joint venture formed in December 2018 to co-develop a 183,353-acre lease area located approximately 8-20 miles off the New Jersey coast between Atlantic City and Barnegat Light.

Data collected from both inside and outside the Atlantic Shores lease area will support Atlantic Shores’ commitment to ground its development decisions upon sound scientific research, as well as contribute to the broader regional knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic marine environment, the company says.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

Military’s Issues With Offshore Wind Farms Now Added to U.S. Spending Bills

June 6, 2019 — The U.S. military has been eyeing America’s offshore wind development, concerned about impacts on training and operations, with project-siting issues brewing in some states. The dispute moved to the national stage May 21 when a House of Representatives committee passed federal appropriations bills that would set new curbs on where turbines could go. Industry advocates say they are duplicative impact mandates.

The House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to fiscal 2020 spending bills for the U.S. Defense and Interior departments to require more National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study of turbine construction and operations impacts on marine life.

Introduced by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), it also says wind turbines in large arrays may interfere with radar and underwater sonar, and directs DOD to issue a report next year to address possible national security issues.

The amendment comes as Maryland enacted on May 22 a bill to raise its offshore wind commitment by up to 1,200 MW.

“Some in Congress continue to seek to sow conflict between offshore energy development and military operations,” said Randall Luthi, National Ocean Industries Association president. He said developers and DOD have long worked “with NATO allies in the North Sea.”

Read the full story at the Engineering News-Record

Rhode Island Regulators Approve 400 Megawatt Revolution Wind Power Purchase Agreement

May 31, 2019 — On Tuesday, Rhode Island regulators approved a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with DWW REV I, LLC — a joint venture between Ørsted US Offshore Wind and Eversource — for the power generated from the 400 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind offshore wind project.

The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved the long-term PPA contract between Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted and US-based energy company Eversource with National Grid, the natural gas and electricity provider for New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The approved PPA is for 400 MW generated by from 704 MW Revolution Wind offshore wind project — which will deliver 400 MW to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut.

Revolution Wind is expected to begin local construction work as early as 2020, with offshore installation beginning in 2022 and completion and operation expected for some time in 2023. Upon completion, Revolution Wind would be Rhode Island’s second offshore wind farm — after the 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm was completed and began generating electricity in December of 2016 — and would generate enough power to supply the equivalent of more than 270,000 homes.

Read the full story at Clean Technica

VIRGINIA: At long last, Dominion decides it’s game on for offshore wind

May 31, 2019 — When utility regulators gave Dominion Energy Virginia the go-ahead to build two offshore wind turbines last November, it was still unclear whether the pilot project might be the end as well as the beginning of offshore wind in Virginia.

Now, however, Dominion seems to have decided it’s game on. Although the company hasn’t issued any public statements about its intentions, its presentation to investors in March included $880 million in spending on offshore wind through 2023, over and above the cost of the pilot project.

This came as a surprise to everyone, including Virginia regulators at the State Corporation Commission. Commissioners were not pleased that Wall Street heard the utility’s plans before they did. Dominion’s 2018 Integrated Resource Plan did not propose building a full-sized offshore wind farm any time in the next 15 years.

Nor had the 2016 and 2017 IRPs, even though the company has been sitting on a lease for an area of ocean that could provide at least 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind power, enough for 500,000 homes.

At a hearing on the IRP this month, the company promised regulators it would submit detailed information in its future filings, and confirmed that it currently has its sights set on 2024 for the first commercial wind farm.

For now, however, Dominion remains focused on getting the two test turbines up and running in a state-held lease area 24 miles out to sea from Virginia Beach. If all goes according to plan, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will be up and running by late summer 2020.

The two, 6-MW turbines will contribute only enough electricity to the grid for about 3,000 homes, but they will be the first turbines in federal waters anywhere in the U.S.  (The nation’s first wind farm, off Block Island in Rhode Island, is closer to shore in state waters.)

With that finish line in sight, state officials, developers, business people and offshore wind researchers were at Old Dominion University in Norfolk Tuesday night to share their vision of how Virginia will leverage its baby steps into a multi-billion-dollar industry that could “reinvent” Hampton Roads.

The town hall forum, organized by the Sierra Club, emphasized the workforce, supply chain and port opportunities if Virginia succeeds in becoming a commercial hub for offshore wind farms all along the East Coast. Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration hopes to find success with this plan even if Virginia lags other states in building wind farms.

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury

Offshore Wind’s Next Steps: 6 to Watch For

May 29, 2019 — Things certainly aren’t dull in the world of offshore wind these days. Between new legislation to kick-start offshore wind markets, new bids to meet states’ demand for projects, and new markets getting set to open up, momentum just keeps building. Here are six near-term things I’m watching for.

1. New York’s first 800 megawatts

The journey of 9,000 megawatts, it might be said, starts with the first 800. Thanks to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Empire State has the most ambitious target in the nation, and is working to live into that goal. That included issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for the first 800 or so megawatts late last year, with bids due in February.

Developers responded in a big way, with four proposing a total of 18 projects. Any one of those developers would bring some serious overseas experience to bear on the US market.

Decisions about which project or projects to go forward with could come out as early as this week, so I’m definitely watching for those.

Read the full story at the Union of Concerned Scientists