Saving Seafood

MAINE: Maine Shaken by High-Stakes Offshore Wind Port Choice

February 27, 2024 — Maine Governor Janet Mills announced that the state selected a section of state-owned Sears Island reserved for port development to support the floating offshore wind industry. The site selection followed an extensive public stakeholder process led by the Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Port Authority to consider the State’s primary port development options.

However, in former documentation, locals in the community and commercial fishing groups oppose the development of the port and offshore wind altogether.

Sears Island is a 941-acre island off the coast of Searsport. In 2009, Sears Island was, by agreement, divided into two parcels: approximately 601 acres, or two-thirds of the island, was placed in a permanent conservation easement held by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, while the remaining one-third, or approximately 330 acres, was reserved by MaineDOT for future development.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Interior advances two New England offshore wind projects

February 26, 2026 — The Biden administration on Monday advanced two massive offshore wind projects off the coast of Massachusetts that have faced economic woes challenging whether they will be built.

The Avangrid projects, Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind, would be located more than 20 miles off the coast of Massachusetts’ Martha’s Vineyard and just south of the first major offshore wind farm in the U.S., the Vineyard Wind project that is under construction.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Monday released a joint environmental analysis for the projects, which combined could power nearly 1 million homes. The document explores the impacts constructing and operating the large wind farms could have on the environment, marine life like the endangered North Atlantic right whale, and industries like tourism and fishing.

Read the full article at E&E News

VIRGINIA: Dominion says new offshore wind deal won’t impact ratepayers

February 26, 2024 — Dominion Energy Virginia says the deal it announced Thursday to sell half of its interest in its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project to investment firm Stonepeak is not expected to have any impact on ratepayers.

Dominion spokesperson Aaron Ruby said the deal will have no “impacts to the cost, customer bill impact, construction or operation of CVOW and no change to the consumer protections approved by” Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the commonwealth.

The deal must be approved by the SCC, which is expected to make a decision on it by the end of 2024.

Under the agreement, Dominion will retain control of the project, a 2.6 gigawatt wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach that will cost an estimated $9.8 billion.

The deal follows the conclusion of a top-down business review Dominion began last year to improve its financial standing and is seen as a move to reduce the utility’s debt levels.

“If we have a healthy balance sheet, we’re going to provide the best customer experience. We’re going to be able to invest to meet the state’s goals,” said Dominion Chair, President and CEO Bob Blue. “That is a very compelling reason for regulators to approve this transaction, and I’m highly confident that they’ll see the benefits and approve it.”

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

Feds complete environmental review for New England Wind

February 26, 2024 — Another offshore wind project off the coast of the Vineyard is a step closer to coming to fruition.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced in a Monday press release it has completed an environmental review of the proposed New England Wind project, formerly known as Vineyard Wind South.

The agency will issue a record of decision on whether the project is approved no earlier than April, according to the release.

New England Wind is an offshore wind project proposed to be located 20 nautical miles from the southwestern corner of Martha’s Vineyard and about 24 nautical miles from Nantucket. The project is expected to generate 2,600 megawatts of power, which the release states would be enough to power over 900,000 homes.

Read the full article at The Martha’s Vineyard Times

NEW JERSEY: Better days ahead for offshore wind, advocates argue

February 26, 2024 — New Jersey’s offshore wind industry is beginning to see brighter prospects ahead, after stumbling through a series of setbacks over the past several months.

On Halloween, clean-energy advocates were stunned when Ørsted, the world’s largest developer of offshore wind projects, abruptly walked away from its state-backed plan to build two wind farms off the New Jersey coast.

The decision came after a few brutal months for the offshore wind industry. Dead whales, dolphins and seals washed ashore on beaches. Critics blamed vessels working to prepare sites for offshore-wind installations for their deaths. The pandemic crashed the sector’s supply chain, pushed borrowing costs much higher and sparked the steepest inflation in years. Critics argued the projects were too costly for customers.

Earlier this month, Ørsted announced it was also pulling out of projects in Norway, Portugal and Spain, once again citing supply-chain disruptions and high interest rates.

Read the full article at New Jersey Spotlight News

Empire Wind construction plan approved

February 24, 2024 — Equinor’s construction and operations plan (COP) for the Empire Wind off New York was approved Feb. 22 by the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management, the final permitting for a two-stage project with a potential maximum capacity of 2,706 megawatts.

“We are proud to announce BOEM’s final approval of the Empire Wind offshore wind project,” said agency Director Elizabeth Klein. “This project represents a major milestone in our efforts to expand clean energy production and combat climate change. The Biden-Harris administration is committed to advancing offshore wind projects like Empire Wind to create jobs, drive economic growth, and cut harmful climate pollution.”

The approval comes amid continued tumult and repositioning by offshore wind power developers. In late January Equinor and bp announced they would split their joint ventures, with Equinor taking full ownership of the Empire Wind 1 and 2 projects, and bp assuming full ownership of the Beacon Wind project. Equinor said it is rebidding the 810-megawatt Empire Wind 1 project into New York’s fourth solicitation.

Like other wind power companies, Equinor is seeking better power payment terms in the face of rising cost

Read the full article at WorkBoat

Equinor gets key US approval for New York offshore wind farm

February 24, 2024 — U.S. officials on Thursday gave Norway’s Equinor (EQNR.OL), approval to start building a massive offshore wind farm off the coast of New York, a positive milestone for a project that has faced soaring costs and does not have a power supply contract.

The plan approved by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management includes construction and operation of both the Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2 facilities, which could power more than 700,000 homes annually once built.

“We are ready to get to work,” Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, said in a statement.

The offshore wind industry is expected to play a key role in helping the U.S. and states including New York meet their goals to decarbonize the power grid and combat climate change.

Equinor said construction of Empire Wind is on track to start later this year, and the project could start delivering power to New York by 2026.

Read the full article at Reuters

Dominion Energy Sells Half Virginia Offshore Wind Farm for $3B to Stonepeak

February 24, 2024 — Dominion Energy has agreed to sell half of its planned Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project in a move the company reports is designed to reduce its risk profile as the giant wind farm moves into construction. The company will sell a 50 percent noncontrolling interest in a newly formed partnership to Stonepeak, one of the leading U.S. private equity firms that is focused on infrastructure.

Under the terms of the agreement, which requires regulatory approval, the companies would be partners in a newly created public utility that would be a subsidiary of Dominion Energy. The company reports it expects to receive approximately $3 billion representing half the construction costs of the wind farm. Dominion Energy will retain full operational control for the construction and operation of the wind firm with the two companies sharing in the costs.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm has completed its permitting and is approved to begin construction which is projected to cost approximately $10 billion. Dominion previously reported that the first components of the wind farm were already being staged in Virginia with the major contracts awarded for the project which they report remains on schedule and budget. There are provisions in the agreement for cost overruns above $11.3 billion.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

NEW YORK: EPA Air Permit Advances New York Offshore Wind Farm Project

February 22, 2024 — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Clean Air Act permit for Empire Offshore Wind LLC. The offshore wind farm will be in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf about 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) south of Long Island, NY and 17 nautical miles (19.6 miles) east of Long Branch, NJ. To ensure transparency, EPA sought and received public comment before the permit was finalized.

“EPA is happy to partner with New York state in leading the way to a clean energy future. When built, this project is expected to generate more than 2,000 megawatts of electrical power for New York State—enough to power as many as a million homes,” said Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “This project is part of a larger effort by the Biden Administration to invest in America and generate 30 gigawatts of clean, abundant energy from offshore wind by 2030.”

Read the full article at ECO Magazine

NEW JERSEY: Federal Agency Under Fire Over Offshore Wind Study

February 22, 2024 — Reacting to concerns that New Jerseyans have not been given enough time to review and comment on federal plans for offshore wind projects off the New York/ New Jersey shoreline, the nonprofit environmental group Clean Ocean Action held a public forum in Long Branch Feb. 20 to provide citizens with an opportunity to review and comment on the federal proposal.

Many residents, groups and activists are up in arms with the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees the development of offshore energy projects.

On Jan. 12, the agency released a 1,400-page environmental review of future offshore wind development off of the New Jersey/New York shore. However, residents were only given until Feb. 26, or 45 days, to review and provide public comment on the document.

“That’s really not enough time,” said Clean Ocean Action executive director Cindy Zipf.

According to Zipf, the BOEM also did not provide residents an opportunity to be seen and heard in a “traditional” public forum.

“We are very, very concerned that the citizens whose livelihoods, whose quality of life, whose environment (will be impacted) will not face the deciders, the decision makers,” Zipf said.

The report, titled Draft Environmental Review of Future Development of Wind Lease Areas Offshore New York and New Jersey, assesses the potential biological, socioeconomic, physical and cultural impacts that could result from development activities for six commercial wind energy leases in an area off the New Jersey and New York shores known as the New York Bight. These six projects would span 488,000 acres of ocean off the Jersey Shore.

Read the full article at The Two River Times