Saving Seafood

The winds of change: Offshore wind’s role in a future Trump administration

December 30, 2024 — While offshore wind has faced the ire of Donald Trump for years, culminating with expected rollbacks of federal support in just a few weeks’ time, the industry remains surprisingly optimistic that the renewable power source will play a key role in the president-elect’s energy strategy.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to target offshore wind, blocking new projects and federal funding for the industry in his new administration. During a May campaign rally in New Jersey, the Republican promised to take action on this during his first day in office through an executive order.

Read the full article at the The Washington Examiner

“We Deserve Answers.” Town Hosting Offshore Wind Regulators For Public Forum

December 27, 2024 — Federal regulators will attend a public forum hosted by the Nantucket Select Board on January 14 to answer questions about their role in the Vineyard Wind blade failure.

Representatives from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which has regulatory authority over offshore wind developments, will attend the Zoom webinar and answer questions from island residents.

There are some ground rules, however, as BSEE officials will only respond to questions provided to them in advance, and the date to submit any inquiries is quickly approaching: Dec. 30.

The public is invited to email questions to bseepublicaffairs@bsee.gov by that date.

“It will not be a back-and-forth situation,” Select Board chair Brooke Mohr stated. “They agreed to come only if we submitted questions in writing. Those are the parameters of their willingness to come and meet with the public.”

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

Vineyard Wind 2 project in jeopardy with Connecticut withdrawal

December 23, 2024 — Connecticut state officials withdrew their planned offtake purchase of 400 megawatts from the future Vineyard Wind 2 expansion Dec. 20, threatening the 1,200 MW project that was based on plans for Massachusetts and Connecticut to split its energy production.

That news came hours after the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project, on an adjoining lease to Vineyard Wind. 

Nantucket municipal officials said last week that turbine blade installations had resumed on the Vineyard Wind 1 lease Dec. 14, after five months of oversight by the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, lengthy inspections and removal of some blades stemming from a catastrophic failure on one turbine July 13.

Read the full article at WorkBoat

MASSACHUSETTS: Biden team OKs another wind project off Martha’s Vineyard

December 23, 2024 — In the 11th hour, the Biden administration approved its 11th offshore wind project, SouthCoast Wind, greenlighting the installation of up to 141 turbines south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The project approval comes just ahead of the second Trump presidency, which, at worst, is expected to be hostile to offshore wind, and, at best, to slow progress and permitting that accelerated during the last four years.

The record of decision issued Friday is a joint decision by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, NOAA Fisheries, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: A shifting wind

December 20, 2024 —  Public sentiment on offshore wind developments in southerly waters off Martha’s Vineyard is shifting, with challenges mounting against the industry and controversy hitting home for Islanders.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) have been outspoken critics of the offshore wind industry, and amplified those calls last week by supporting a lawsuit against Revolution Wind brought by a Rhode Island group.

Nantucket officials over the past several months have been dealing with the aftermath of a turbine blade fracturing and washing debris onto their shores, and town leaders have considered legal action against Vineyard Wind.

The latest to raise a concern: Martha’s Vineyard Commission Executive Director Adam Turner is calling on the state’s highest elected official to help the Island shoulder the burden from offshore wind developments, noting both visual and environmental impacts.

“There are approximately 1,000 turbines permitted currently,” reads a letter written by Turner on Dec. 12 to Gov. Maura Healey. “The vast majority are proposed to be located directly off the southern and western shores of our Island. Already, with only a small fraction constructed, they have affected the visual quality of our shores. Already we have absorbed environmental impacts.”

Turner voices a solid consensus on the Island that pursuing alternative energy sources is essential for fighting climate change, but he also told The Times in a follow-up interview he strongly felt Martha’s Vineyard should be better compensated for having to deal with projects that will power not only the rest of Massachusetts, but other states, including Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Read the full article at MV Times

DELAWARE: Delaware council rejects permit critical to development of wind farm off Ocean City coast

December 19, 2024 — In a dramatic move, members of Sussex County Council in Delaware rejected an application crucial to the completion of a new wind farm off the Atlantic coast. The proposal, which was rejected Tuesday in a 4-1 vote, was at the center of a monthslong debate in Sussex County.

If approved, it would have allowed Renewable Development, a subsidiary of US Wind, to connect high-voltage cables from the Indian River to a new substation adjacent to the Indian River Power Plant in Dagsboro.

US Wind, a Maryland energy company owned in part by an Italian infrastructure firm, said in a statement that it will appeal the decision.

Now with the future of the project uncertain, Sussex County taxpayers will likely be on the hook to fund the county’s opposition to US Wind’s appeal and a potential future lawsuit.

Even with the rejection, the US Wind project is not dead, but significantly hampered and likely looking at further delays. It can still find another way to bring its cables ashore if it should lose its appeal.

Read the full article at Maryland Matters

Vineyard Wind resumes work to install turbine blades to towers off Nantucket

December 19, 2024 — Construction crews have resumed attaching blades to Vineyard Wind’s turbines off the coast of Nantucket.

The work comes months after a blade broke off and sent debris and fiberglass into the water and onto beaches along the Cape and Islands.

The federal agency overseeing the safety of the offshore wind farm said it’s allowing turbine manufacturer GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind to install three more blades.

Read the full article at WCVB

Vineyard Resumes Blade Installation Five Months After Fracture

December 19, 2024 — The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm being developed by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners resumed blade installation last weekend five months after it was forced to suspend operations due to one blade fracturing. The project which is working with GE Vernova received permission from federal regulators for the work to proceed on a “case-by-case” basis and notified Nantucket’s elected official of the plans to resume blade installation.

A spokesperson for the wind farm developer confirmed to the local media in Massachusetts that it had received initial permission from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement which is responsible for oversight of the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Previously, the regulators were only permitting cabling work, and then in late October permission was received to resume installing the additional monopile foundations with the DEME’s vessel Orion expected to resume work on or about October 28.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Maryland county takes on international offshore wind company to save commercial fishing jobs

December 18, 2024 — On the largely undeveloped Delmarva peninsula – which is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and includes portions of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia – local lawmakers are getting ready to take on a major international wind power company in an effort to save its crucial commercial fishing industry.

The Worcester County Commissioners in Maryland approved a resolution on Tuesday to acquire two properties in West Ocean City Harbor through eminent domain, which US Wind plans to develop into an operations and maintenance facility as it constructs a wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. The action was taken in an effort to protect the county’s historic commercial and sport fishing industries.

The commissioners passed the resolution as US Wind, a subsidiary of Italian-based Renexia SpA, plans to construct a 353-foot-long-by-30-foot-wide concrete pier at the harbor to service vessels used to construct a proposed wind farm consisting of up to 118 turbines at least 15 miles off the coast of Ocean City. Along with the pier, the company plans to install 383 feet of bulkhead.

The two properties the county plans to acquire are currently being used by Southern Connection Seafood and the Martin Fish Company, which are the only two commercial seafood wholesalers in the area where watermen can offload and sell their catches.

The county’s plans for the two properties include developing a long-term lease with the existing owners, allowing them to continue serving the needs of the commercial fishing industry, according to the resolution that was passed.

“The commercial fishing industry is an integral and essential part of Worcester County’s economy,” the resolution reads, adding that it, along with the sport fishing industry, are dependent on commercial marine support in and around West Ocean City Harbor.

Read the full story at FOX Business