Saving Seafood

Orsted hit by up to $5.6 billion impairment on halted US projects

November 1, 2023 — Renewable energy firm Orsted (ORSTED.CO) on Wednesday halted the development of two U.S. offshore wind projects and said related impairments had surged above $5 billion, as the industry grapples with supply chain delays and higher costs.

Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, said it would stop developing its 2,248-megawatt (MW) Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects in New Jersey. Related impairments could amount to as much as 39.4 billion Danish crowns ($5.58 billion).

Its stock plunged as much as 22% to a six year low of 265 crowns.

The offshore wind industry has found itself in a perfect storm of rising inflation, interest rate hikes and supply chain delays, casting doubt on plans by U.S. President Joe Biden and several states to use offshore wind to replace fossil fuels in energy production to fight climate change.

On Tuesday, energy major BP (BP.L) booked a third-quarter writedown of $540 million on wind projects after officials in New York state rejected a request for better terms to reflect what BP called “inflationary pressures and permitting delays”.

Read the full article at Reuters

Ørsted resumes off-shore survey for wind farm

September 10, 2023 — Ørsted, a clean energy company, will conduct offshore geophysical surveys in Delaware this Fall in support of Skipjack Wind’s development.

Skipjack Wind is a 966-megawatt offshore wind farm that is planned to power nearly 300,000 homes in the region. It’s important to note however that there is no site at the moment for an interconnection facility that would bring cables on shore. An onshore site is necessary before the project can come to fruition. Past proposed interconnection facility sites included Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island State Park, but nothing has been finalized. The latter was struck down after massive public opposition.

The US-flagged R/V Shackleford will conduct high-resolution geophysical surveys in the nearshore ocean environment to approximately 6 miles off Delaware’s coast. The purpose is to collect data about the seafloor and the geology beneath it, and to identify potential archaeological resources and debris left by other ocean users.

US approves major Rhode Island offshore wind farm

August 23, 2023 — The U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday approved the construction of a 704 megawatt (MW) wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, the fourth offshore wind project the agency has greenlighted as the Biden administration targets bringing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power online by 2030.

The Revolution Wind project off Point Judith, Rhode Island, could power nearly 250,000 homes and create 1,200 local jobs during the construction phase, the Interior Department said.

Owned by wind energy developers Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Eversource (ES.N), the project includes up to 79 possible locations for the installation of 65 wind turbines and two offshore substations.

Read the full story at Reuters

New Jersey residents challenge Orsted offshore wind farm’s $1 billion subsidy

July 31, 2023 — New Jersey residents have sued Danish renewable energy developer Orsted and the state over a tax break the company received to build a major offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, claiming the estimated $1 billion subsidy violates the state constitution.

New Jersey groups Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect our Coast NJ filed their lawsuit on Thursday in state court in Trenton. They claimed the law authorizing the tax break, signed earlier this month by Governor Phil Murphy, violates a provision of the state constitution that generally prohibits legislation that specifically favors a single, private entity.

The groups asked the court to invalidate the law, which they said created the tax break “for the singular purpose of protecting Orsted from commercial risk it voluntarily assumed” when it submitted bids to develop the project, known as Ocean Wind.

Orsted said on Friday it does not comment on pending litigation. The New Jersey attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the full article at Reuters

New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa claims ENGO hypocrisy on offshore wind and whales

May 19, 2023 — The following transcript is excerpted from an interview by New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa on Fox & Friends:

Fox & Friends: GOP lawmakers in New Jersey want an immediate stop to offshore wind projects over growing concern about a spike in whale deaths. Since December alone, 32 dead whales have washed up on beaches along the East Coast. Republican state senators are asking for a 30 to 60 day pause on construction to see if it helps. Michael Testa is one of them and he joins us now.

So who exactly are the groups or the people who would be opposing a 30 to 60 day, very sensible pause to see what’s going on with the whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, it seems to be Ørsted, who’s the company that wants to have the wind farms, as well as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, which makes absolutely no sense to me because I always thought that those were the groups that were there to protect the whales and to create bumper stickers that say ‘save the whales.’ And I think that they’re being completely intellectually disingenuous here. We know that if this were an exploration for offshore oil drilling, that if one whale carcass were to wash up on one of New Jersey’s shores, they would be surrounding that carcass holding hands with, you know, tears streaming down their face, singing Kumbaya.

Fox & Friends: What is their explanation for not wanting to see an environmental impact on whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, their explanation is the reason that the whales and dolphins are washing up on our shores in record numbers is due to climate change. That’s why we need to rush to erect these massive wind farms, which, you know, quite frankly, a lot of people have now testified and believe are contributing to whales washing up on our shores in record numbers. But it’s always their cry. This is their mantra. This is climate change. And if you ever question their green energy agenda, you’re labelled a science denier, a climate change denier.

We also have to really question what the environmental impact is going to be to our commercial fishing industry as well as our recreational fishing industry and look, Cape May County, Atlantic County, Ocean County and Monmouth County, tourism is the lifeblood of their summer economy.What are these wind farms going to do if whales and dolphins continue to wash up on our shores?

We also don’t know what the erection of these massive wind farms [is] going to do to our ocean floor and what type of environmental long term environmental impact that is going to have on our oyster business, scallop business.

Watch the full interview here

Work has started on major offshore wind farm that would power Rhode Island. What to know.

May 2, 2023 — The developers of Rhode Island’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm are still waiting on approvals for the 704-megawatt project, but that’s not stopping them from starting work on pieces of it.

Ørsted and Eversource welcomed Gov. Dan McKee, the Rhode Island congressional delegation and other officials to the Port of Providence on Monday to mark the beginning of fabrication of some of the key components of the towering wind turbines that will be installed in the waters between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard as part of Revolution Wind.

The companies set up shop a year and a half ago in the port, where they built a regional hub that is supplying parts to a host of wind farms planned off southern New England.

‘Jobs of the 21st century’

First up for the facility was the South Fork Wind Farm, a 130-megawatt, 12-turbine array already under construction that will help power Long Island. Now comes Revolution, the 65-turbine project that would deliver energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut. Sunrise Wind, an 880-megawatt proposal to also supply New York, is expected to follow. And, if all goes as planned, a second, even bigger phase of Revolution would come.

It’s all part of a long-term vision to not only generate cleaner sources of power to help meet the nation’s climate goals, but also position Rhode Island as a manufacturing base for offshore wind development.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Orsted, Eversource Propose New York Offshore Wind Project

January 27, 2023 — Ørsted and Eversource have submitted a joint proposal in response to New York State’s third round of offshore wind solicitations. Together, Ørsted and Eversource are building South Fork Wind, New York’s first offshore wind farm, which broke ground early last year and will be operational with 130 MW in 2023, and Sunrise Wind, a 924 MW project that will deliver clean energy to New York in late 2025.

In July 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced New York’s third competitive offshore wind solicitation for a minimum of 2,000 MW of offshore wind, which will power at least 1.5 million additional New York homes with clean, affordable energy. This third solicitation marks additional progress toward achieving New York State’s Climate Act mandate to secure 70% of the State’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030 and at least 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035.

Read the full story at North American Windpower

Unexploded bomb discovery flags growing challenge for offshore wind

July 27, 2022 — The first large offshore wind farms in the United States are unearthing unexploded munitions from World War II, representing a potentially growing challenge for both developers and U.S. policymakers as the emerging industry anchors off America’s coasts.

While surveying the seafloor in the waters of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay in recent weeks, the Danish firm Ørsted found 11 unexploded weapons, prompting a warning to mariners by the Coast Guard.

“They range from 6-inch artillery shells to a 250-pound bomb,” said Ryan Ferguson, a spokesperson for Ørsted.

Reported to federal agencies like the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and NOAA, as well as the U.S. military branches that operate offshore, the discoveries will add to an existing map of unexploded munitions up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

Known sites range from nearby hotbeds like Massachusetts’ Nomans Land island — once used by the Navy for target practice — to dumping grounds where the United States disposed of its post-war mountains of munitions after World War II. But other uncharted sites may exist, where sea and sand have moved historic hazards or unethical shippers dumped them outside established locations.

The Department of Defense in general has advised a leave-in-place policy, noting that objects have often become part of the marine ecosystem and that removal can cause harm.

Read the full article at E&E News

Simulator Helps Researchers Envision Commercial Offshore Wind Farm In Maryland

June 29, 2022 — It won’t be long before offshore wind is powering homes in Maryland, but with so few examples of completed wind farms in the United States, it’s hard to fully imagine what a completed project will look like. 

That’s why Ørsted, a Danish power company, and the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies in Linthicum Heights teamed up to create the Mid-Atlantic’s first offshore wind farm simulator, bringing these massive projects to life. 

“This is a brand-new industry here in the United States, said Brady Walker, Ørsted’s Head of Government Relations for Maryland and Delaware, “There is not a commercial-scale wind farm in operation here right now. “ 

That will soon change, as companies like Ørsted continue to develop projects in our own backyard. Skipjack Wind, off the coast of Delaware and Maryland, will generate enough clean renewable energy to power about 300,000 homes and businesses on the Delmarva peninsula. 

“For Maryland’s first offshore wind farm – a really impactful commercial utility-scale offshore wind farm,” Walker said.

Read the full story at CBS Baltimore

 

New York wind developers, environmental groups sign agreement on right whales

June 28, 2022 — Offshore wind developers Ørsted and Eversource say they have struck an agreement with environmental groups to improve protection of endangered north Atlantic right whales during construction and operation of the South Fork Wind project.

The companies say they will adopt monitoring measures to make sure right whales are not nearby during construction activity, and use mitigation steps to reduce underwater noise during pile driving.

They will also evaluate other new monitoring technologies, including thermal cameras, acoustic sensors, and data integration software. Developers say the findings from South Fork will be used in future projects.

A 10-knot vessel speed limit will be in place for all boats working on the project, “unless an effective adaptive speed management plan is in place,” according to the developers.

Such 10-knot limits are commonly sought by the National Marine Fisheries Service when its monitoring detects right whale movements off the East Coast, triggering announcements of special management areas to reduce the danger of ship strikes. Accidental encounters in the shipping lanes are a major cause of death for right whales, now estimated to number only around 340 animals.

NMFS whale monitoring has shown substantial overlap between right whale movements and offshore wind development areas off southern New England.

Read the full story at National Fisherman