Saving Seafood

Fishermen organizing ‘flotilla’ protest against offshore wind

August 23, 2024 — In response to recent concerns over offshore wind and with debris washing up on Nantucket and Island beaches from a fractured turbine blade, the New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) has organized a “flotilla” for this Sunday, bringing fishing boats together to peacefully protest in unison against the offshore wind industry.

Boats will be joining together in a “boat parade” from various areas of the east coast, said NEFSA founder and CEO Jerry Leeman, including the Vineyard, Nantucket, parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and potentially New Jersey.

Read the full article at MV Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Final Offshore Wind Discussion Centers on Ethics, Economics

August 23, 2024 — Newport’s Energy & Environ­ment Commission concluded its three-part series about offshore wind on Aug. 15, with moderator Avery Robertson leading panelists representing Climate Action Rhode Island’s Yes to Wind campaign, the Iron Workers Local 37 union, and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management in a discussion about the ethics and economics of offshore wind devel­opment.

Nick Horton, a volunteer with Cli­mate Action Rhode Island, opened his remarks by asking the audience to raise their hands if they con­sidered themselves environmen­talists, whether they cared about whales, and if they cared about the health of Rhode Island’s fisheries now and in the future. Most people raised their hands to all three. He then asked the room to raise their hands if they planned on cutting their personal energy usage by 90 percent within the next few years. Nobody raised their hand.

He proceeded to make the point that Rhode Island’s grid is largely dependent upon the fracking of natural gas in other states as its main power source. Horton said he supports the industrial scale devel­opment of offshore wind not only because it provides an alternative to modes of fossil fuel production, such as fracking, which negatively impact the environment, but also because the pollution caused by fracking and coal-fired power plants increases cancer rates and other health issues in other com­munities.

Read the full article at Newport Daily News

Offshore wind’s first ‘spill’

August 22, 2024 — Renewable energy advocates used to joke that unlike offshore oil production, the worst that could happen with turbine arrays would be a “wind spill.”

No more. The July 13 turbine blade failure on Vineyard Wind’s machine AW38 dropped parts of 57 tons of fiberglass, balsa wood and resin coatings into the sea, with fragments washing up on beaches – first from Nantucket, then onward to from Cape Cod to Montauk, at the height of summer tourism.

One month after the fracture, the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued an “updated suspension order” to allow some work to resume on the planned 62-turbine, 806-megawatt rated array. The order continued to block new blade installation or power production at the 24 GE Vernova turbines installed before the break.

Reports of broken blade pieces drifting across southern New England waters were cited by opponents off the Atlantic Shores project off New Jersey as proof of their fears that building turbine arrays starting 8.7 miles off their beaches will endanger their own tourism industry.

Read the full article at Workboat

NEW YORK: Turbine blade debris from Nantucket wind farm may wash up on Long Island

August 22, 2024 — Pieces of a 300-foot blade that broke off a wind turbine south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, a month ago may soon begin washing up on Long Island beaches, according to an alert today from the Town of East Hampton.

The turbine debris is from Vineyard Wind, a wind farm located in the ocean about 22 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Parts of the shattered blade that broke off its turbine on July 13 soon turned up on the shores of Nantucket, temporarily closing beaches. Now, officials anticipate debris is honing in on Montauk.

“We have been made aware that debris may wash up on the shores of Montauk,” reads the alert posted on Instagram by the Town of East Hampton. “The debris has been described as ‘non-toxic fiberglass fragments.'”

Read the full article at the Greater Long Island

NEW JERSEY: NJBPU terminates Ocean Wind offshore wind farms

August 22, 2024 — Last week, Cape May County announced that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities formally vacated all of its orders that approved the Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 offshore wind projects that were under development by Danish offshore wind corporation Ørsted.

The BPU’s actions follow the filing of lawsuits by Cape May County in the New Jersey Appellate Division as well as in the Federal District Court.

The county challenged the BPU’s orders, all of which have now been vacated and deemed of no force or effect, according to a news release it issued Aug. 14.

The state of New Jersey agreed to let Ørsted keep $175 million in escrow funds in exchange for vacating the BPU orders, according to the release. Cape May County’s actions before the Appellate Division and the Federal District Court remain active.

“Today is a very important day in our ongoing opposition to these environmentally destructive offshore wind projects,” Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Len Desiderio stated in the release. “The vacation of these orders by the BPU means that it will be much more difficult for Ørsted or any other Big Wind company to utilize these lease areas just a few miles off Cape May County beaches.”

Read the full article at the Ocean City Sentinal

NEW JERSEY: Opponents call ocean wind plan ‘ill thought out’

August 22, 2024 — On Monday, Aug. 19 Stop The High-Risk Power Cables, a citizen group concerned about plans to run what they call “high risk” power cables through Sea Girt, Manasquan and Wall Township, held a community meeting before a large, online Zoom audience.

After gaining traction in the local community since the group’s formation, the group held the meeting before a virtual audience of over 1,000 attendees about a proposed turbine plan off the East Coast. The meeting was attended by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, Assemblyman Paul Kanitra and six other panel members, including an environmentalist, local mayors and citizen advocates who shared their opinions and called for project transparency.

Read the full article at Star News Group

NEW JERSEY: Former BPU Commissioner says Offshore Wind Reliability Not There Yet

August 22, 2024 — Saying New Jersey should have a diverse energy portfolio, a former New Jersey Board of Public Utilities commissioner cautioned against making offshore wind the focus because of its intermittent capabilities.

“Technology frequently provides new ways to both generate and store energy,” said Dianne Solomon, who served as the only South Jersey BPU commissioner from 2013 to May 2023. “Storage, in particular, may, in the future, make intermittent renewable sources reliable and cost effective to be competitive with traditional energy generation, but until then we need to proceed cautiously so that ratepayers are not burdened for the foreseeable future by the costly choices made today.”

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

BOEM Begins Process for Second Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Sale

August 21, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

To further the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, and to support the offshore wind energy goals of Atlantic coast states, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will publish a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for a second regional offshore wind energy sale in the Central Atlantic (Central Atlantic 2). This Call invites public feedback on possible commercial wind energy development in areas off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.

“Today’s announcement kicks off the process for a second potential auction in the Central Atlantic and provides an important avenue to solicit information as we identify potential areas that may be suitable for future offshore wind energy leasing,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “BOEM looks forward to building upon years of working with ocean users, Tribal governments, and local, state, and federal agencies as we drive toward achieving the ambitious goals of the Biden-Harris administration to fight climate change and create good-paying jobs.”

The second Central Atlantic Call represents one of the first steps in the leasing process. Today’s announcement builds upon the input and planning that led to the first Central Atlantic lease sale on August 14, 2024, the fifth offshore wind lease sale held during the Biden-Harris administration.

BOEM will publish the Commercial Leasing for Wind Power Development on the Central Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – Central Atlantic 2 – Call for Information and Nominations in the Federal Register on August 22, 2024, which will initiate a 60-day public comment period. BOEM will accept nominations and comments through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 21, 2024. BOEM will also host several virtual and in-person public meetings in September and October, including a virtual Task Force meeting via Zoom on September 10-11, 2024. To find out more information and to register, go to: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/central-atlantic-2-public-meetings.

After the public comment period closes, BOEM will review and analyze commercial nominations and public comments submitted in response to the Call. BOEM will also consider information from Tribal consultations and the Central Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force to further evaluate the appropriateness of the Call Area for offshore wind energy development and identify draft wind energy areas (WEAs). BOEM will conduct environmental reviews of the WEAs in consultation with the appropriate federal agencies, Tribes, state and local governments, and key stakeholders. After completing its environmental reviews and consultations, BOEM may propose a competitive lease sale for areas within the WEAs.

The Central Atlantic 2 Call Area consists of 13,476,805 acres off New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina Coasts. The Call Area is broad to allow for flexibility to minimize conflicts with other uses, such as commercial fisheries, military activities, and vessel traffic. BOEM will collaborate with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to help identify where conflicts may exist and inform decisions regarding the most appropriate locations for WEAs.

For more information on Central Atlantic 2, go to https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/central-atlantic.

BOEM seeks public input on possible wind energy areas

August 21, 2024 — Bureau of Ocean Energy Management officials are asking for feedback on possible commercial wind energy development in areas totaling 13.47 million acres off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, or Central Atlantic 2.

BOEM announced Wednesday that it will publish in the Federal Register on Thursday a call for information and nominations for a second regional offshore wind energy sale in the Central Atlantic 2, one of the first steps in the leasing process. Publishing the call will initiate a 60-day public comment period that ends 11:59 p.m. Oct. 21. Information on how to comment is to be posted Thursday at regulations.gov. Search for BOEM-2024-0040.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

MAINE: Maine, federal government reach agreement on floating offshore wind research array

August 20, 2024 — An effort to study the impacts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine is closer to launch after the state and federal government reached a lease agreement on Monday for a floating research array.

The Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered the research area lease to the state in late May for up to 15 square miles in federal waters about 30 miles southeast of Portland, according to a press release from Gov. Janet Mills’ office Monday afternoon. It will include up to 12 floating turbines and help inform how floating offshore wind operates and interacts with ecosystems in the water.

Read the full article at Yahoo! News