August 9, 2024 — U.S. activists opposed to offshore wind development areforming a national coalition aimed at fighting projects from California to New England, according to the effort’s founder and two other organizations.
MASSACHUSETTS: Federal, state officials attend Nantucket Select Board meeting to address Vineyard Wind turbine incident
August 8, 2024 — Federal and state officials attended the Nantucket Select Board meeting on Wednesday to address ongoing concerns about the damaged wind turbine that has cast debris onto the island’s beaches since early July.
“There are still parts of the blade that are remaining on the turbine,” said Roger Martella, the chief sustainability officer of GE Vernova, the blade’s manufacturer. He estimated it to be about seven to eight percent of the mass of the blade.
Martella said that on Thursday, if weather permits, crews plan to remove that remaining part of the blade that’s currently at risk of falling into the ocean.
One resident asked if the high winds expected from Tropical Storm Debby could loosen other blades.
But Martella said that was not likely.
“The storm is not a risk for the turbines or the blades or anything like that,” Martella said during the meeting, which was livestreamed.
MASSACHUSETTS: New offshore wind projects delayed by state, including areas off Martha’s Vineyard
August 8, 2024 — It’s going to be at least another month before contenders for the state’s fourth, and largest, offshore wind procurement will be unveiled.
The state Department of Energy Resources on Tuesday indicated in a letter submitted to Department of Public Utilities Secretary Mark Marini that selection of projects will be postponed until Sept. 6. The agency’s evaluation team was originally scheduled to announce the selected bids and the start of negotiations on Aug. 7.
“The additional time is needed to consider any impacts to this solicitation from the recently announced federal grant to New England states through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Innovation Program for projects to invest in regional electric infrastructure to ready the onshore transmission system for offshore wind,” the letter reads.
New England scores $389M from feds for energy
August 8, 2024 — The federal government is awarding $389 million to the New England states for regional electric infrastructure upgrades.
State officials announced the funding award earlier this week, saying the Power Up New England proposal features upgrades to interconnection points in southeast Massachusetts and southeast Connecticut to prepare the region for more offshore wind power.
CT-based Avangrid wind farm under scrutiny, energy production halted, after blade shatters.
August 7, 2024 — The massive blade that broke off a windmill tower, splashed down into the ocean and had pieces wash up on Nantucket beaches a few weeks ago is having repercussions here today in Connecticut.
The joint venture project being developed by a division of Orange-based Avangrid and a Dutch renewable energy company is under scrutiny, even as construction of the 806-megawatt offshore wind farm came to halt in mid-July when a 300-foot section of a 360-foot blade broke off one of the turbines that are part of Vineyard Wind. The project, which is a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is being developed about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and 35 miles from mainland Massachusetts.
The project began producing 5 megawatts of electricity at the start of 2024 and has gradually been increasing its power production, but that energy production has also been halted as the investigation into what caused the turbine blade to break off is still underway. The joint venture partners are also still scrambling to clean up the shards of fiberglass from the turbine that smashed into pieces and washed ashore beaches on both islands during the height of the summer tourist season.
New England awarded $390M federal grant for offshore wind infrastructure upgrades
August 7, 2024 — A regional project to upgrade the infrastructure connecting offshore wind farms to the electric grid was awarded nearly $390 million in federal funding through a competitive grant program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced Tuesday.
The Power Up New England project, submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources on behalf of all six New England states, was one eight projects nationwide awarded $2.2 billion through DOE’s Grid Innovation Program.
The project is a collaboration among state agency energy departments, local utility companies and an unnamed “emerging technology developer.” It aims to ready the region for the flurry of new offshore wind projects which, once finished, collectively bring several thousand megawatts of renewable electricity to the regional grid. The $389 million in federal funding, which requires a $500 million local match, specifically pays for new and upgraded interconnection points in southeastern Massachusetts and southeastern Connecticut, as well as new battery storage systems in southwest Connecticut and in Maine.
MAINE: Failure of wind turbine blade off Cape Cod raises questions for Maine officials
August 6, 2024 — The collapse of a wind energy turbine blade off Massachusetts in mid-July exposed a weakness in communications about environmental and mechanical hazards, raising an issue that Maine may have to address as it plans its own wind power presence in the Gulf of Maine.
Debris from the broken turbine blade, about 350 feet long and manufactured by GE Vernova, washed up on Nantucket beaches. Residents posted photos of fiberglass and foam littering the tony island’s beaches. The online images sparked a tug-of-war between environmentalists who said the incident should not set back efforts to promote zero-carbon energy and skeptics who said the incident proves that wind energy can pollute the environment.
“Obviously, it’s not great,” said Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. But busted wind turbines washing up on beaches is far less damaging than oil from broken tankers or off-shore drilling sites, he said.
“The most concerning thing for Nantucket was the delayed direct notification to our community,” Brooke Mohr, chair of the town’s select board, said in a recent interview.
Vineyard Wind, the developer of New England’s first utility-scale offshore wind project, informed the town at 5 p.m. July 15, two days after the incident, she said. Vineyard Wind did not respond to an email seeking comment on Mohr’s account.
Peltola moves to ban US support of offshore aquaculture in federal waters
August 5, 2024 –A new bill from U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) would ban U.S. agencies from permitting or supporting offshore aquaculture in federal waters without authorization from Congress.
The Domestic Seafood Production Act (DSPA) would specifically put a halt to ongoing governmental efforts to foster and encourage finfish farming in federal waters as Congress considers the future of offshore aquaculture in U.S. waters.
The fallout from Vineyard Wind’s broken turbine blade
August 2, 2023 — When Nantucket residents began posting photos of the fiberglass and foam littering their beaches on the morning of July 16, everyone in the offshore wind world — proponents and opponents, alike — knew the industry was about to face a very public test in confidence.
The debris had fallen from a damaged turbine blade at the nearby Vineyard Wind project. The part, made and installed by GE Vernova, had broken three days earlier, and no one really knew why.
The project’s developer, also called Vineyard Wind, scrambled to clean up the mess and assure the public that the material all over their pristine beaches was “non-toxic.” But more and more photos of the bright green debris washed up on social media, many carrying captions like “It’s everywhere” and “STOP #Bigwind!”
Soon, a picture of the broken turbine itself surfaced. The 351-foot blade had snapped about 65 feet from the base and what remained of it hung slackly, dangling over the ocean.
It was not a good look for an industry already struggling against economic headwinds and public concern about its impacts on the ocean environment. Plus, as the first large-scale offshore wind farm to earn federal approval, Vineyard Wind has always been under intense public scrutiny.
Frustrated Fishermen Demand Answers, Transparency After Vineyard Wind Failure
August 2, 2024 — Members of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) are demanding a thorough investigation into the recent incident involving a detached blade from a Vineyard Wind turbine.
The mishap, which occurred on July 13, resulted in widespread debris across significant fishing areas from Nantucket to Cape Cod, causing concern among local fishermen.
Jerry Leeman, CEO of NEFSA, expressed the community’s frustration, stating, “Trust between fishermen and offshore wind developers is at an absolute nadir.”
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