Saving Seafood

Offshore wind developers sought for NJ’s fourth round of energy projects

March 25, 2024 — A group of residents spoke out Wednesday against New Jersey’s latest offshore wind energy plans, saying that approving another round of projects would harm the environment and be costly for electricity customers.

The state Board of Public Utilities is preparing its fourth solicitation for offshore wind development as part of Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal to have 11 gigawatts of energy produced by ocean wind turbines by the year 2040.

To make that deadline, the state must move ahead quickly on the lengthy approval process. More than 90% of the state’s electricity was produced by natural gas and nuclear energy in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Of the remaining 8% of the state’s energy that was produced by renewable sources, only a small fraction of a percent was generated by wind.

Read the full article at app.

Wind compensation announced, fishermen remain wary

March 25, 2024 — Mass. vessel owners and fishing permit holders can now enroll in a compensation program to cover losses caused by the construction and operations of wind farms. Fishermen who are sharing the waters with Vineyard Wind may be eligible for funds through the Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program. The program is through the farm’s developers and offers $19.1 million for Mass. Fishermen and a combined $7.5 million for fishermen from other states who have routinely fished the same area in recent years.

To be eligible, fishermen must show they fished within the project’s lease area for at least three years between 2016 and 2022. The Cape Cod Times shared that though the funds are meant to bring relief to those working on the water already limited by regulations and allowable catch volumes, fishermen have raised many questions and criticism that there isn’t enough funding, the eligibility criteria are too limiting, and the program doesn’t take into account the effects fishermen who work outside of the lease area may experience.

The Vineyard Wind project is under construction 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and is planned for a nearly 261-square-mile lease area. Activist groups and fishermen have opposed offshore wind development and have insisted that the significant number of whale deaths on the East Coast can be correlated to survey and construction work on energy projects, such as Vineyard Wind.

The New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) also have serious questions about how offshore wind activity is connected to the spikes in whale mortality throughout the Atlantic.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Whales v. wind turbines? Opponents hope to shut down Virginia Beach offshore wind farm project

March 23, 2024 — A legal battle is brewing in Virginia Beach waters. A collection of conservative groups filed a lawsuit this week to put a stop to Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Turbine project. They’re arguing the project could impact endangered whales.

Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm plans caused a stir in Virginia Beach in weeks past.

“Essentially they’ve created an industrial complex next to a residential community,” Patrick McClaughlin of Virginia Beach told News 3 in early March

Read the full article at WTKR

DOE charts path for offshore wind grid network

March 23, 2024 — Building massive power lines in the Atlantic Ocean could link not only new offshore wind farms but also onshore electricity grids from Maine to South Carolina, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Energy.

The Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission study, an analysis two years in the making from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, found that a connected offshore wind network would cut down on grid congestion onshore and increase reliability of the electricity system overall. It would also allow power to flow to areas of high demand when needed as well as move from low-priced areas to high-price areas to cut electricity costs for consumers, according to DOE.

As one example, DOE said New England’s electricity system could be tied to the onshore grid in the mid-Atlantic via offshore networks.

Read the full article at E&E News

Shell Sells Position in U.S. SouthCoast Offshore Wind JV to Partner

March 23, 2024 — The realignment in the offshore wind sector continues with Shell reporting that it is honing its portfolio. In the latest move, Shell New Energies exited its 50 percent stake in SouthCoast Wind Energy which is in the permitting process for a 2.4 GW wind farm to be located off the coast of Massachusetts. It is the latest step seeing the energy giant reduce its participation in wind energy.

SouthCoast Wind was formed as a 50-50 joint venture in 2018 to develop offshore wind projects with its first lease for a site 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 23 miles south of Nantucket. The company is a partnership with Ocean Winds North America, which in turn is a partnership between EDP Renewables and ENGIE. When EDPR and ENGIE combined their offshore wind assets and project pipeline to create Ocean Winds in 2019, the company had a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4.0 GW under development. In addition to SouthCoast Wind, Ocean Winds has Bluepoint Wind in the New York Bight and recently won the lease for Golden State Wind in the first auction for sites offshore from California.

The SouthCoast Wind project is still in the permitting stage with Rhode Island conducting hearings last month. The first phase of the project which would deliver approximately 1.2 GW via an electric grid connection in Massachusetts is targeted for the late 2020s. SouthCoast Wind still developing plans for the second phase of the project.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Interior Department proposes second offshore wind sale in Gulf of Mexico

March 21, 2024 — In another step by the Biden-Harris administration to support the growing momentum across America for a clean energy economy, the Department of the Interior today announced its proposal for a second offshore wind energy auction in the Gulf of Mexico.

The proposed lease sale includes four areas offshore Louisiana and Texas, totaling 410,060 acres, which have the potential to power 1.2 million homes.

The announcement is part of the administration’s commitment to expand offshore wind opportunities, building on investments made by the President’s Investing in America agenda to develop a clean energy economy, create good-paying jobs for American workers, and make communities more resilient.

“Today’s announcement is another step forward in the Biden-Harris administration’s pursuit of building a clean energy future and permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement announcing the proposal. “We are taking action to jumpstart America’s offshore wind industry and using American innovation to deliver reliable, affordable power to homes and businesses, while also addressing the climate crisis.”

Read the full article at WorkBoat

Offshore wind opponents mount court challenge to Virginia project

March 21, 2024 — Wind power opponents filed a long-expected court challenge to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, in a bid to stop Dominion Energy’s planned start of construction May 1.

The lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is focused on claims that construction and operation of the planned 2.6-gigawatt-rated turbine array will harm the already extremely endangered North Atlantic right whale population, now estimated at only around 350 animals and already at risk from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.

 The Heartland Institute, Center for a Constructive Tomorrow and the National Legal and Policy Center, groups with ties to conservative, libertarian and oil and gas energy interests, are at the top of the complaint filed in federal court. 

Heartland and allies have already worked to oppose Mid-Atlantic wind power development off the Delmarva coast, citing potential impact on commercial fishing, Ocean City, Md.’s tourism economy and interference with Navy and military aviation operations offshore.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Lawsuit to stop Virginia Beach offshore wind farm claims project is a danger to whales

March 21, 2024 — Several groups filed a lawsuit against federal entities to overturn the approval of a massive wind turbine project off the shore of Virginia Beach, claiming it is a hazard for endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The lawsuit filed by The Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow and the National Legal and Policy Center names the United States Department of Interior, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Marine Fisheries Services, among others. It claims the federal government is on an “aggressive” campaign of developing offshore wind off the Atlantic coast, and the locations of the projects being in right whale habitat poses a major risk for injury or death of the animals.

The coalition said in a statement that the lawsuit is to stop Dominion Energy’s plans to start construction May 1 to protect the North Atlantic right whales. North Atlantic right whale populations have dwindled due to an “unusual mortality event,” according to scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other groups attribute many of the deaths to vessel strikes and entanglement.

“In issuing its ‘biological opinion’ in September, (National Marine Fisheries Services) only examined the impact that each of these projects, individually and in isolation, would have on the North Atlantic right whale,” the coalition said in a statement. “The agency did not, as it should have, issue a comprehensive and cumulative analysis examining the combined harm that all of the projects, together, would inflict on the whales during their annual migration path.”

Read the full article at The Daily Press

Lawsuit filed to halt offshore wind farm, citing concerns for whales

March 20, 2024 — An environmental lawsuit filed by a handful of conservative groups could interfere with Dominion Energy’s plans to begin constructing Virginia’s offshore wind project on May 1.

The Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and the National Legal and Policy Center alleged that federal agencies, as part of their environmental assessment of the project, neglected to perform a full analysis of the harm that could come to the endangered North American right whale as a result. 

The plaintiffs argue that the Bureau of Ocean Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service are legally compelled to evaluate – not just the potential harm from the Virginia project – but the dangers the project might pose to the species in combination with the dozens of other offshore wind projects along the East Coast. 

“What BOEM and Marine Fisheries did is carve this integrated program of putting offshore wind off the East Coast – they carved it into little pieces. There’s a little piece here, which is Virginia, and a little piece there, which is Maryland, another piece which is New York,” Collister Johnson, Jr., senior adviser to the Committee, told The Center Square. “The courts are really clear that you can’t do that and minimize and understate what the actual harm is.”

Read the full article at The Center Square

‘A lot of people are upset.’ Vineyard Wind compensation offer for fishermen stirs worries

March 20, 2024 — Commercial fishers who are sharing part of their customary fishing waters with Vineyard Wind may be eligible for compensation through the developers’ Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program — one that offers a $19.1 million bucket for Massachusetts fishers to dip into, and a combined $7.5 million for fishers from other states who’ve routinely plied the same area in recent years.

“It’s focused on fishermen who have traditionally fished in the area,” said Crista Bank, fisheries manager for Vineyard Wind.

So, in order to be eligible, fishers will need to show they’ve fished within the project’s lease area forat least three yearsbetween 2016 and 2022.

It’s meant to bring relief to fishers already limited by regulations and allowable catch volumes, though there are many questions among fishermen, as well as criticism that there isn’t enough funding, the eligibility criteria are too limiting, and the program doesn’t take into account the effects fishers who work outside of the lease area may experience.

A joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the 804-megawatt Vineyard Wind project is under construction in the shallow waters of the outer continental shelf 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. There are 62 turbines, each a mile apart, planned for the nearly 261-square-mile lease area. Five of them became fully operational on Feb. 21.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times