June 4, 2021 — Rhode Island coastal regulators have given a proposed wind farm off the state’s coast critical approval over the objections of the fishing industry and some environmentalists.
The vote Wednesday by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council in favor of the South Fork Wind Farm moves the project one step closer to reality.
June 3, 2021 — The developers of the South Fork Wind Farm said they have reduced the number of turbines they plan to connect to the South Fork from 15 to 12 — though the amount of power sent ashore in East Hampton will remain the same.
The shift is a product of the availability of much larger turbines than when the project was originally proposed. An Ørsted spokesperson said that the company has settled on using 11 megawatt turbines for the project, which allows the total number of turbines to be reduced from 15 to 12 while still meeting the 132-megawatt planned power supply that the company has agreed to with the Long Island Power Authority.
The turbines used in the Block Island Wind Farm, and visible from the shores of Montauk on clear days, are rated at 6 megawatts. They tower to about 590 feet above the surface of the sea, while the current 11-megawatt Siemens turbines reach nearly 800 feet and a turbine being produced by GE that will also top the 11 megawatt nameplate tower soars to more than 850 feet.
But it also comes amid the public review process of the project by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. Analysts and fishing groups from around New England and New York have objected to the company placing the turbines in ecologically sensitive areas close to Cox Ledge — an undersea ridge of rocky bottom that is an important fishing area for Montauk and Rhode Island fishermen and a critical nursery for bottom dwelling fish species like the beleaguered Atlantic cod.
May 27, 2021 — In a virtual meeting of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on Tuesday night, members of its fisheries advisory board strongly objected to the council’s conclusion that the South Fork Wind Farm’s new “minimization alternative” — 12 wind turbine generators instead of 15, reducing its footprint — and a $12 million fisheries compensation package, are consistent with the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan.
The advisory board also took exception to the state council’s inclination to issue “conditional concurrence” pursuant to federal regulations. The project needs the council’s approval, along with that of a host of other state, federal, and local authorities.
The wind farm as first proposed called for a 15-turbine, 90-megawatt setup. Advances in technology have allowed instead for a 130-megawatt installation, using no more than 15 turbines. The South Fork Wind Farm will now have 12 wind turbine generators, its developers having entered into a contractual obligation with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for 11-megawatt turbines.
The developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, have also modified the layout, to a one-by-one nautical-mile grid.
May 7, 2021 — What is the price of loss of livelihood?
This question is at the center of negotiations between local fishing industry representatives and offshore wind developers. And despite recent efforts to strike a better deal, some local fishermen say no number is high enough to justify the devastation they believe the projects will create for their jobs and industry.
The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council at the urging of Gov. Daniel J. McKee delayed its approval of the South Fork Wind Farm to give developers Orsted A/S and Eversource Energy more time to reach an agreement with the fishing industry, the Associated Press has reported.
The CRMC through its Ocean Special Area Management Plan gets a say in the federal certification process for wind farm projects within a certain distance of the state coastline. Compensation is intended to offset losses from the construction and operation of the projects to the fishing industry.
The payouts help Rhode Island and Massachusetts fishermen, but there are no such benefits for fishermen in other states, even though many also fish in these areas. Other states also get no say in the federal approval process, unlike Rhode Island.
“Rhode Island holds the keys to the kingdom,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director for the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.
September 15, 2020 — National Grid and Deepwater Wind, now Ørsted, were given a break by Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) when the agency granted the use of a cost-saving method for burying the Block Island Wind Farm power cables at a New Shoreham beach. Both companies now likely regret that decision.
National Grid, which owns the high-voltage power line from Block Island to Narragansett, expects to pay $30 million for its share of the reconstruction, which will require horizontal directional drilling. The state’s primary electric utility will recover the expense through an undetermined surcharge on ratepayers’ bills.
“While exact bill impacts won’t be available for some time, we don’t anticipate major fluctuations to those charges with these needed repairs,” National Grid spokesperson Ted Kresse said.
The power line from the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm reaches shore at Fred Benson Town Beach and leaves New Shoreham for Narragansett at Crescent Beach to the north. But keeping portions of the cable buried at Crescent Beach has been a struggle.
June 18, 2019 — The demand for offshore wind continues, as the designated wind zones in waters south of Rhode Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket fill with projects.
At the June 11 meeting of the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), Grover Fugate, executive director, recounted the growing pains to accommodate as much as 22,000 megawatts of offshore wind.
“This industry has literally exploded overnight,” said Fugate, as he highlighted issues confronting several projects.
The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind facility, for instance, is deadlocked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the project’s environmental impact statement.
“That’s not something that’s been done before in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) world,” Fugate said. “So we’re not quite sure where that is going to end up.”
The Nantucket Historical Commission is seeking $16 million from the Vineyard Wind developer, according to Fugate. The island town has sought funds to compensate for adverse visual impacts the 84-turbines may have on tourism.
February 25, 2019 — A Rhode Island fishing board on Saturday voted in favor of a revised compensation offer from offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind in a decision that boosts the New Bedford company’s chances of securing a key approval from state coastal regulators later this week.
In a unanimous vote at the special meeting, the Fishermen’s Advisory Board accepted the new offer that includes $4.2 million in payments over 30 years for direct impacts to commercial fishermen from Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm proposed in Rhode Island Sound, as well as the creation of a $12.5-million trust set up over five years that could be used to cover additional costs to fishermen resulting from the project.
The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council is now set to vote Tuesday night on whether it believes the $2-billion project is consistent with state coastal activities, including fishing. With the vote by the fishermen’s board, the prospects of Vineyard Wind winning approval appear much improved from just weeks ago when the two sides were mired in negotiations.
But the board’s decision does not amount to an endorsement of the 800-megawatt proposal, which is aiming to be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, following the completion two years ago of a test project off Block Island.
January 25, 2019 — Vineyard Wind officials are not waiting for federal officials to return to their desks: The company has reached an agreement with environmental groups to protect North Atlantic right whales and has offered Rhode Island fishermen a $6.3 million deal to compensate them for any economic damages they may incur from the wind farm’s construction and operations.
“We have not voted yet,” said Lanny Dellinger, chairman of a fisheries advisory board of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. “We are currently in the process of reviewing (the Vineyard Wind) proposal.”
On both fronts the company’s intention, in part, is to pave a smooth path for the 800-megawatt wind farm project planned south of Martha’s Vineyard, which is on a tight schedule to take advantage of federal investment tax credits that are expiring at the end of the year.
The 84-turbine wind farm is expected to deliver enough electricity to power about 400,000 homes in Massachusetts via an underwater, high-voltage cable that will land on a Barnstable beach, company officials said. As planned, it could be the nation’s first industrial-size offshore wind project.
Fishermen want wider corridors than those wind farm has backed.
December 14, 2018 — A dust-up has emerged over vessel travel lanes in the vast offshore wind area south of the Islands, with wind farm development companies at odds and fishermen giving mixed reviews.
“We support establishing transit corridors through the wind energy areas,” said Lauren Burm, a spokeswoman for Bay State Wind, which has signed a lease in the area but does not yet have a contract to sell its wind power. Although progress has been made on the corridor layout, a consensus is still needed with fishermen and with new companies that may lease remaining areas, Burm said.
Vineyard Wind, under the pressure of a tight schedule to begin construction next year of an 84-turbine wind farm, announced Monday that it supports the proposed 2-nautical-mile-wide vessel travel corridors. But the company’s 800-megawatt wind farm is northeast of any of the proposed corridors, so it may not be an issue until the company needs to expand. “We’re amenable to discussing a wider corridor,” company spokesman Scott Farmelant said.
The proposed corridors are not as wide as commercial fishermen might like.
“It’s a good starting point,” said lobsterman Lanny Dellinger, chairman of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council Fisheries Advisory Board. But the commercial fishing industry has been pretty adamant about wanting 4 miles in width, Dellinger said. Fishermen need plenty of room to allow their large and slow-moving vessels to navigate safely in poor weather and recover safely in emergencies such as engine trouble, he said.
Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times
December 6, 2018 — Rhode Island fishing interests, given the authority to weigh in on offshore wind projects that could damage their livelihoods, are flexing their muscles. As a result, a 94-turbine wind farm planned for waters south of Martha’s Vineyard is in serious jeopardy.
Like Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind farm planned off of Montauk, the Vineyard Wind project is owned by European energy companies with global wind-farm interests. Rhode Island, as part of the permitting process, asked for and was given “Federal Consistency” because even though the project originates in Massachusetts, it affects fisheries in neighboring states. New didn’t ask for the right to weigh in, even though local fishermen extensively fish that area.
On Tuesday, November 27, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council agreed to postpone its decision to grant a “consistency certification” for Vineyard Wind until the end of January. If Rhode Island denies certification, Vineyard Wind could appeal to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It is not clear how the latest news affects the Deepwater Wind project off of Montauk Point but it is sure to come up during the state’s review of the project. In fact, fishing industry proponents are urging New York State officials to be proactive in the review of any proposed offshore wind farm in the immediate region.