Saving Seafood

RHODE ISLAND: Portsmouth Town Council begrudgingly approves host agreement with SouthCoast Wind

January 18, 2024 — Faced with receiving $23 million or nothing, the Portsmouth Town Council begrudgingly approved an agreement that allows a Massachusetts offshore wind farm developer access to town property under which to bury power cables.

The 18-page host community agreement, approved by a 5-1 vote of the council Tuesday, gives SouthCoast Wind Energy LLC access to town property. The easements will be used so the Massachusetts wind developer can bury 2 miles of high-voltage, underground transmission lines below town roads, meant to connect its offshore wind farm to the electric grid in nearby Brayton Point. In exchange for use of town land, the developer will pay $23.2 million in host fees and taxes, to Portsmouth over the next 33 years.

Councilman David Gleason cast the sole vote in opposition.

The council’s decision came after a nearly four-hour public hearing at Portsmouth High School, marked by impassioned testimony and pointed questions from community residents. Some criticized the lack of protections for the town in the agreement, as well as murkiness surrounding the exact route of the cable burial plan – for which there are two options. Others focused their opposition on how the offshore wind farm as a whole will upset the delicate ocean ecosystem so critical to fishermen’s livelihoods. Still others lobbed accusations based on self-described evidence that ties the company ownership to China, or insisted climate change was a “hoax.”

Read the full article at the Rhode Island Current

Will 2024 be all about offshore wind?

January 17, 2024 — Will 2024 prove as monumental a year for the offshore wind industry as last year? Reading the respective press releases and news stories brought to mind the opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That describes the East Coast offshore wind industry today.

The best of times. Avangrid Inc., a member of the Iberdrola Group, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners CI II fund are jointly developing Vineyard Wind 1, an 806-megawatt project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. According to a Jan. 3 press release, the first turbine undergoing commissioning sent five megawatts of power to the New England grid at 11:52 PM the night before. Is it still sending power? Our inquiry to Avangrid has not been answered, but the press release talked about further testing being needed. Sounds like it isn’t sending power.

The press release claims this power is the first to come from a commercial-scale U.S. offshore wind project. However, Ørsted and partner Eversource claimed they sent the first power from their South Fork Wind farm off Long Island to the New York grid in early December. Funny, we haven’t heard anything more from them. But how could Avangrid have missed that announcement? Maybe there is a back story we don’t know yet.

Read the full article at WorkBoat

BOEM Seeks Public Comment on Draft Environmental Analysis of Central Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Areas

January 11, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

In another step by the Biden-Harris administration to support the growing momentum across America for a clean energy economy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced the availability of its draft environmental review of wind energy areas offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic region. 

BOEM’s Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) considers potential environmental consequences of site characterization activities (e.g., geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys) and site assessment activities (e.g., installation of meteorological buoys) associated with issuing wind energy leases in the Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The Draft EA also considers project easements and grants associated with each potential lease, including subsea cable corridors. The public comment period for the draft EA runs through Feb. 12, 2024

Commentary: Offshore wind in Gulf of Maine a bad idea

January 11, 2024 — My name is Rick Beal, and I’ve been in the fishing industry and interacting with nature since the 1960s. I’ve seen firsthand many of nature’s wonders. I have stood in awe while watching the northern lights, witnessed the viciousness of a shark feeding frenzy and the humanism of a mother whale towards her calf. I have also seen how we humans affect nature both positively and negatively and believe that environmentalism is a cause we should all embrace. In fact, being the dominant species, we have an obligation to do so. Reducing dependency on fossil fuels is very important to this cause, but offshore wind is not the answer, it will do more harm than good.

Because of its currents and topography, the Gulf of Maine has a unique and very fragile ecosystem. Small changes can have huge effects. By the 1970s, because of exploitation by foreign countries and our domestic fleets’ unregulated practices, the Gulf of Maine’s ecosystem was on the brink of collapse. Today, due to hard work of both regulators and industry, it has been brought back from that near disaster to the healthy and sustainable levels of today.

However, today, we have a new crisis on the horizon: offshore wind. With its hundreds of man-made structures both above and below the surface and the changes they will bring to the ecosystem, the decades of work will be destroyed. I have read many articles, looked behind them to see who wrote or funded them, and the research quoted in them. I came away thinking of something I once read, “Words and numbers can be manipulated by their users and made to do their users bidding.” On the issue of offshore wind, manipulation, be it pro or con, is rampant.

Read the full article at the Gloucester Daily Times 

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Ocean Cluster Has a New Project on the Horizon

January 11, 2024 — In its second full year, the New Bedford Ocean Cluster continues its focus on the four industries that reflect the blue economy in New Bedford as momentum picks up in terms of increasing the visibility of the Port of New Bedford and the region and its potential.

The four marine pillars are offshore wind and renewable energy, commercial fishing and processing, aquaculture, and innovation and technology.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Offshore wind faces more financial turbulence in 2024

January 8, 2024 — The offshore wind industry is hoping for new momentum in 2024 to counter the broken contracts, canceled wind farms and missed targets characterizing its last 18 months.

While experts say the nascent industry is getting back on its feet after being thrashed by inflationary costs and an immature supply chain after the pandemic, the enormous scale of building a new U.S. renewable sector from scratch still poses significant challenges that could stall a key plank of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.

“There is an adjustment going on in the industry that I read very clearly as we’re trying to build an industry for which we have no supply chain,” said Eric Hines, an engineering professor at Tufts University who studies the offshore wind industry. “Our demand has outstripped not only the U.S. supply chain but the global supply chain.”

The obstacles are coming to a head as Biden faces a tough election year and is aiming to prove his climate bona fides to needed voters on the left, some of whom have criticized the administration for not meeting 2020 campaign promises such as ending new oil drilling on public lands.

The Interior Department has 10 months to deliver on other White House offshore wind promises before Election Day, including pledges to approve 16 wind arrays by 2025 and hold lease sales in areas like the Gulf of Maine.

But optimism for the industry is growing as inflation eases and interest rates trend downward. Also, states have boosted enthusiasm by seeking contracts for a whopping 14 gigawatts of offshore wind power despite the harsh economic realities that have pushed up prices to build wind farms.

“I think the headlines are different for 2024,” said Theodore Paradise, an energy attorney at K&L Gates. “We’ve got better contracts, we’ve got better timelines, we’ve got a better sense of the supply chain.”

With the administration and industry set to make decisions in coming months that will drive the industry’s future, here are three issues to watch with offshore wind in 2024:

Read the full article at E&E News

Developers cancel offshore wind power contract off Long Island due to costs

January 7, 2024 — Developers behind a proposed offshore wind farm off the coast of Long Island have terminated their contract on the project. Energy firms Equinor and BP said it is no longer financially feasible.

The project was expected to generate more than one gigawatt of electricity, or enough to power at least 800,000 homes. The state is now expected to reopen the bidding process for the project at the end of the month.

Pete Sikora, the climate campaigns director for the advocacy group, New York Communities for Change joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” to talk about the project and more. “Offshore wind is not moving forward as fast as it should…These offshore wind projects are absolutely necessary, they need to be put into place and they need to be done fast under the governor,” Sikora said.

Read the full article at Spectrum News

US Wind requests marine mammal take authorization for offshore wind construction

January 7, 2023 — US Wind has submitted a request for Incidental Take Regulations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in regards to construction of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project.

The regulations would govern the authorization of take of a small number of 19 species of marine mammals. A “small number” is considered less than one-third of estimated populations in the area, though specific small numbers are not defined. According to NOAA, take is harassing, hunting, capturing or killing any marine mammal, or attempting to do so. Though intentional take is prohibited, incidental take of small numbers can be allowed through an application process.

Actions of take can include negligent or intentional operation of an aircraft or boat, detaining marine mammals and other acts which result in disturbing them. Take can occur through acts with the potential to injure these animals in the wild, classified as level A harassment, or potential to disturb behavioral patterns like breathing, migration, breeding and sheltering, which are classified as level B harassment.

Read the full article at WRDE

Power up: Vineyard Wind sends electricity to the grid

January 7, 2024 — New England’s first large offshore wind farm has delivered electricity to the grid.

In a test Tuesday, shortly before midnight, Vineyard Wind sent about five megawatts of power ashore in Barnstable from a single turbine, according to project officials.

More testing needs to be done before the turbine can be fully operational, according to the project’s two parent companies, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. They said they expect the first five turbines, which were completed in early December, to be running in the early part of this year.

When fully built, Vineyard Wind 1, located about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, will have 62 turbines of 13 megawatts each and generate enough power for more than 400,000 homes.

Maggie Downey, administrator of renewable energy provider Cape Light Compact, said the powering-up of Vineyard Wind represents a turning point in meeting the state’s climate goals.

“I think it’s a huge moment for everybody that lives in Massachusetts,” she said. “We need the electrons on our grid. We are all seeing the impacts of climate change, and this is a giant step forward to helping us and the Commonwealth achieve their state goals.”

Vineyard Wind hoped to deliver power by the end of 2023, but missed that mark.

Read the full article at GBH

Equinor, BP cancel contract to sell offshore wind power to New York

January 4, 2024 — European energy firms Equinor (EQNR.OL) and BP (BP.L) terminated their agreement to sell power to New York state from their proposed Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, citing rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and supply chain issues.

“This agreement reflects changed economic circumstances on an industry-wide scale and repositions an already mature project to continue development in anticipation of new offtake opportunities,” Equinor said in a statement on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to a new offshore wind solicitation launched by New York in November.

The solicitation allows companies to exit old contracts and re-offer projects at higher prices. The winners of an expedited solicitation for offshore wind will be announced in February.

An Equinor spokesperson declined to comment on the bid strategy for the 1,260-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 2 project, but said it was “carefully assessing” the solicitation and was “encouraged by the state’s commitment to offshore wind.”

Read the full article at Reuters