Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: As more turbine trash washes up on Nantucket, town considers suing

July 24, 2024 — As additional debris from a damaged offshore wind turbine washes ashore on Nantucket, the town is considering other methods of dealing with the aftermath, including litigation.

Last weekend, a damaged Vineyard Wind turbine sent floating debris and sharp fiberglass across the south shore of Nantucket, angering residents.

In response to the ongoing crisis on the island, the Nantucket Select Board will meet in executive session on Tuesday to discuss “potential litigation in connection with Vineyard Wind” regarding recovery costs associated with the blade failure, according to an online meeting notice.

Representatives from GE and Vineyard Wind will give an update at Wednesday’s regularly scheduled Select Board meeting. The engineering firm Aracadis is also expected to complete an environmental assessment soon, which they will present at the Wednesday meeting.

Read the full article at Boston.com

To decarbonize, New England is betting big on offshore wind. Can it deliver?

July 24, 2024 — Dozens of hard hats and yellow safety vests were neatly placed on folding chairs. A giant American flag hung from the rafters of a hangar-sized fabrication building. And cellophane-wrapped cookies with blue icing spelling out “Revolution Wind, powered by Ørsted and Eversource,” added the final celebratory touch.

After a rough year for the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry, the crowd of union leaders, energy company representatives, state and federal officials, media and other guests at the Port of Providence on June 13 were marking the final assembly of the advanced foundation components for the Revolution Wind project, a 700-megawatt offshore wind farm currently under construction 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard that will deliver energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee called the now- bustling port – packed with offshore wind turbine components and hosting a gleaming new crew service vessel built for Ørsted, the Danish offshore wind giant, docked nearby – “an example of what can happen all around the country.” The construction progress “marks a pivotal moment, not just for Rhode Island but our country’s offshore wind industry,” McKee added.

Other governors across New England are banking big on the mammoth turbines being installed off the coast to not only keep the lights on as the region moves toward cleaner electricity, but also to meet a surge in power demand from electric vehicles and a shift to electrified home heating. The region’s push into offshore wind comes amid longstanding apprehension by federal regulators and the nation’s electric reliability watchdog over New England’s dependence on natural gas power generation, worrisome when paired with its constrained pipeline capacity during extreme cold.

Whether the hundreds of turbines planned to spring up off the coast — and the major grid upgrades needed to get that power to where it’s needed — can reliably meet those expectations will come down in large part to timing, experts say. That includes not just how fast developers, who are facing supply chain problems and sometimes stiff local resistance and have complained about permitting delays, can get turbines built, but also when the expected demand increase from an electrified future materializes. Also in the mix: how quickly the system is able to inject the power produced offshore and whether it can handle the dips in output that can come with variable generation, said John Moura, director of reliability assessment at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which sets and enforces standards for the American power system.

Read the full article at Maine Morning Star

WASHINGTON: Are offshore wind turbines in Washington’s future?

July 24, 2024 — Washington is considering dipping its toes in the world of offshore wind turbines. By 2026, the state will likely decide whether to take a plunge.

But that depends on whether Washington voters decide to retain the state’s cap-and-invest program, which raises money from carbon-producing companies to invest in green energy and pollution mitigation.

An offshore turbine is a windmill-like turbine that looks and operates like the ones found on land – only much bigger.

Most offshore turbines are along the coasts of Europe and East Asia. The United States has two commercial-sized offshore wind turbine farms capable of producing a total of 42 megawatts, compared to the worldwide production 64,300 megawatts.

The first American offshore project was Block Island, 12 miles south of Rhode Island, which went online in 2016 with five turbines to generate 30 megawatts. In comparison, Washington’s largest proposed land turbine project – in the Horse Heaven Hills south of Kennewick – would build 100 to 222 turbines to generate between 236 megawatts and roughly 1,150 megawatts. Its exact size is still being debated at the state level.

Read the full article at Crosscut

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive Vineyard Wind blade section sinks to ocean floor

July 22, 2024 — The 300-foot blade section that detached from a Vineyard Wind turbine this week sank to the ocean floor, Nantucket officials said Friday. Nautical charts show waters are about 150 feet deep in the area (or roughly half as deep as the blade is long).

Meanwhile, a federal official said they have no time estimate on when the project shutdown might end because the investigation is in its early stages. While officials try to determine the cause of the blade failure, turbine components will continue to arrive at the New Bedford staging terminal, but won’t be heading back out to sea for installation.

Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova have not shared their plans for retrieving the major blade piece as of Friday afternoon. About half of the fiberglass shell remains attached to the nacelle, and most of the foam core was released during the initial failure on July 13, according to Nantucket officials.

Amid concerns about health and economic impacts, town officials said Vineyard Wind is developing a water quality testing plan for the island and setting up a process in which affected people can file claims.

“Vineyard Wind is fully responsible for the repercussions on Nantucket, and Town Administration and the Select Board will ensure they are held accountable,” said the town in a statement Friday. Per a meeting agenda filed the same day, the Select Board and county commissioners are scheduled to meet next week to discuss possible litigation against the company over the incident.

Also on Friday, BSEE and Vineyard Wind representatives delivered limited updates during a previously scheduled meeting of state officials and fishing industry members. The group meets regularly to discuss offshore wind developments; the turbine incident was added to the top of the agenda and discussed for just under an hour.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

DELAWARE: Public airs concerns on offshore wind during July 9 hearing

July 22, 2024 — The state conducted a public hearing July 9 on the permits needed by US Wind to connect its wind farm off the coast of Maryland to a proposed substation next to the Indian River power plant in Dagsboro. As has been the case since the beginning, public comment on the project was mixed.

US Wind’s project comprises up to 121 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substations, up to four offshore export cables and one meteorological tower in ocean waters due east of Ocean City, Md. The offshore export cables are proposed to land at 3R’s Beach, north of Bethany Beach, and interconnect into a proposed substation that would be constructed on land adjacent to the Indian River power plant.

Two representatives from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and one representative from US Wind made brief presentations on the permits needed and construction details. To make the connection work, the company would horizontally drill 60 feet under the beach and dune at 3R’s; build four vaults that are each 47 feet long, 12 feet wide and 11 feet deep in the beach parking lot; then horizontally drill west from the vaults under Indian River Bay before coming up at the power plant. In addition to the parking lot construction area, which is supposed to return to its as-is condition except for four manhole covers, and horizontal drilling, dredging in the coves near the plant requires permitting. In all, the company needs DNREC’s approval for a subaqueous lands permit, a water-quality certification, a wetlands permit and a beach preservation coastal construction permit.

Read the full article at the Cape Gazette

 

MASSACHUSETTS: In a packed room in Eastham, residents call for ‘reset’ on Outer Cape offshore wind

July 22, 2024 — Outer Cape residents filled a hotel ballroom to capacity in Eastham Wednesday for a meeting on offshore wind development areas off Cape Cod’s eastern shore.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hosted the information session in response to complaints that the agency has not done enough on the Outer Cape to communicate its plans. The agency has proposed eight areas for lease to developers, totaling nearly 1 million acres.

Among the concerned residents to speak were fishers, a charter boat owner, and Select Board members from at least five towns. Recurring themes included protecting Stellwagen Bank, the location of cable landings, and the role of offshore wind in reducing climate change.

Federal plans show offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Maine starting about 25 miles off Cape Cod.

Luke Feinberg, a project coordinator with BOEM, told the audience the agency does not anticipate that electrical cables would make landfall on the Outer Cape because the area does not have the infrastructure or electrical demand to support it. The closest grid connections BOEM has analyzed are in Sandwich and Plymouth.

“Just want to be very clear, that as we predict today, cables would not be landing in the Outer Cape area or going through the Outer Cape area,” he said.

Read the full article at CAI

MASSACHUSETTS: Damaged Vineyard Wind turbine sheds more debris

July 19, 2024 — A broken turbine blade on one of the Vineyard Wind generators shed more fiberglass material into the water 15 miles off Nantucket, Mass., prompting project CEO Klaus Skoust Møller to abruptly leave a tense meeting with the island community Wednesday evening.

In the midst of the meeting with the Nantucket Select Board carried online via Zoom, Møller apologized that he had to leave to deal with “a development to the integrity of the blade” that had been hanging off turbine AW38 since its initial failure July 13.

“Folks this is the definition of crisis management,” said board chair Brooke Mohr, instructing Møller to report back to the board later. “Things change by the minute.”

Vineyard Wind officials issued a statement soon after.

“This evening there was an observed compromise to the integrity of the GE Vernova blade. While part of the blade remains attached to the turbine, we believe there is an increased possibility it could detach soon. There has been a 500-meter safety zone implemented around the turbine and GE Vernova blade since Saturday night, and it has been under constant surveillance.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Blade collapse, New York launch and New Jersey research show uneven progress of offshore wind

July 18, 2024 — Three events Wednesday highlighted the uneven progress of the offshore wind industry in the Northeast, including the start of a major project in New York, research aimed at preventing environmental damage in New Jersey, and a temporary shutdown of a wind farm in Massachusetts after a broken turbine blade washed ashore on a famous beach.

The federal government ordered a wind farm operator off the coast of Nantucket in Massachusetts to suspend operations while cleanup continues after a wind turbine blade fell into the water, broke apart, and washed up on beaches at the popular vacation spot.

Vineyard Wind said Wednesday that it has removed 17 cubic yards of debris, enough to fill more than six truckloads, along with several larger pieces that washed ashore. The debris was mostly non-toxic fiberglass fragments ranging in size from small pieces to larger sections, typically green or white.

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

Offshore wind meeting nets few answers on sending energy to shore

July 18, 2024 — Of the four people who spoke at a virtual July 10 public meeting held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency in charge of leasing offshore U.S. waters, three were concerned about energy transmission lines, cooling stations and standpipes during transmission to the mainland. But the meeting only addressed a draft environmental assessment issued June 21 over effects during the leasing and assessment process, so no answers were forthcoming.

The environmental assessment shows negligible to minor effects on the ocean environment, marine mammals and other ocean animals, navigation and vessel traffic, commercial and recreational fishing, recreation and tourism and cultural, historical and archaeologic resources. The assessment covers the “routine and non-route activities associated with lease and grant issuance, site characterization activities and site assessment activities with the wind energy area.”

A fourth comment came from ocean scientist David Dow of Falmouth, retired from NOAA Fisheries Woods Hole Laboratory in Massachusetts, who raised concerns over an ocean “degraded” by climate change by the time turbines start turning, around 2032, if offshore wind development progresses as planned.

Read the full article at Mount Desert Islander

NEW YORK: Ground Broken on Long Island’s Sunrise Wind, the largest offshore wind farm in the nation

July 18, 2024 — There was a historic groundbreaking Wednesday for New York’s next offshore wind farm, which will be seven times bigger than the first one.

Years in the making, winds of change are coming to the state’s energy grid. Months after South Fork Wind went live, the far bigger Sunrise Wind will have 84 turbines to generate 924 megawatts, making it the largest wind farm in the nation.

Ocean winds will be supplying the project’s clean energy by 2026.

“Six hundred thousand homes. That is the metric and that is a true game changer for Long Island,” said Doreen Harris, president of the New York State Research and Development Authority.

Read the full article at CBS