Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Damaged Vineyard Wind turbine sheds more debris

July 19, 2024 — A broken turbine blade on one of the Vineyard Wind generators shed more fiberglass material into the water 15 miles off Nantucket, Mass., prompting project CEO Klaus Skoust Møller to abruptly leave a tense meeting with the island community Wednesday evening.

In the midst of the meeting with the Nantucket Select Board carried online via Zoom, Møller apologized that he had to leave to deal with “a development to the integrity of the blade” that had been hanging off turbine AW38 since its initial failure July 13.

“Folks this is the definition of crisis management,” said board chair Brooke Mohr, instructing Møller to report back to the board later. “Things change by the minute.”

Vineyard Wind officials issued a statement soon after.

“This evening there was an observed compromise to the integrity of the GE Vernova blade. While part of the blade remains attached to the turbine, we believe there is an increased possibility it could detach soon. There has been a 500-meter safety zone implemented around the turbine and GE Vernova blade since Saturday night, and it has been under constant surveillance.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Nantucket Braces For More Debris As Damaged Vineyard Wind Turbine Blade Comes Down

July 18, 2024 — As Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Skoust Møller apologized to the Nantucket community Wednesday night for his company’s damaged offshore turbine blade that has scattered debris across the island’s south shore beaches, more trouble was brewing at the wind farm 15 miles southwest of Nantucket.

After getting grilled by island residents for more than an hour about the unfolding disaster, Møller abruptly left the building after being informed that “there was a development to the integrity of the blade.”

He departed the island aboard a Leonardo helicopter to attend to the situation while those in attendance waited in suspense for an update.

An hour later it came: the integrity of the blade – which was hanging parallel to the turbine after last Saturday’s incident – had become further compromised, and more debris had been observed falling into the water. By Thursday morning, the remaining portion of the blade had plummeted into the waves.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

MASSACHUSETTS: Broken Vineyard Wind Turbine Scatters Debris Along Nantucket’s South Shore; Wind Farm Operations Shut Down By Feds

July 17, 2024 — Debris from a broken Vineyard Wind turbine blade washed up all over Nantucket’s south shore Tuesday morning, prompting the offshore energy company to mount a cleanup effort and the federal government to shut down the wind farm “until further notice.”

Residents began reporting pieces of green and white foam, along with larger pieces of what appears to fiberglass, along southern Nantucket beaches at daybreak, stretching from Madaket out to Nobadeer.

The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced Tuesday afternoon that Vineyard Wind’s “operations are shut down until further notice.”

All south shore beaches were closed to swimming by the town just after 11 a.m. as a result of the debris. There is no estimate for when they will be reopened.

“The water is closed to swimming on all south shore beaches, due to large floating debris and sharp fiberglass shards,” Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey said. “You can walk on the beaches, however we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris on the beaches.”

Vineyard Wind disclosed Monday that one of its turbine blades suffered damage Saturday during an “offshore incident.” The exact nature of the incident is not yet known, but there were no injuries to any Vineyard Wind personnel or other mariners.

Read the full article at Nantucket Current

Vineyard Wind shut down after turbine failure, “sharp fiberglass shards” wash ashore on Nantucket beaches

July 17, 2024 — The federal government has ordered the Vineyard Wind farm to shut down until further notice because of a turbine blade failure this weekend.

Several beaches were closed on Tuesday while crews worked to clean up “large floating debris and fiberglass shards” from the broken wind turbine blade off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. A total of six south shore Nantucket beaches were closed to swimming due to debris that washed ashore.

“You can walk on the beaches, however we strongly recommend you wear footwear due to sharp, fiberglass shards and debris on the beaches,” the Nantucket Harbormaster said.

Vineyard Wind operations shut down

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said all operations are shut down until further notice.

“A team of BSEE experts is onsite to work closely with Vineyard Wind on an analysis of the cause of the incident and next steps,” the agency said in a statement.

Read the full article at CBS News

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind turbine blade sustains damage offshore

July 16, 2024 — A 350-foot blade partially broke off a turbine in the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project Saturday night. The company and federal officials as of Tuesday are investigating what caused it.

Anthony Seiger, a commercial clammer out of New Bedford, saw the damaged turbine while he was steaming out to his fishing grounds on Sunday. Photos he captured show one of the three turbine blades dangling against the tower and splintered near the base.

“On July 13, a single turbine at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm experienced an isolated blade event,” said a spokesperson for GE Vernova, the project’s turbine manufacturer. “No injuries occurred, and GE Vernova’s Wind Fleet Performance Management team have initiated our investigation protocols into the event in coordination with our customer.”

Vineyard Wind’s operations are shut down until further notice, a federal safety agency said Tuesday.

A notice to mariners from the U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday night stated the Coast Guard received a report of three pieces of floating debris “10 meters by 2 meters” in the vicinity of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and that “all marines [sic] are requested to use extreme caution while transiting the area.”

At around 7 p.m., USCG was notified of the turbine damage, according to an agency spokesperson.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: Broken Vineyard Wind Turbine Blade Scatters Debris on Nantucket

July 16, 2024 — A Vineyard Wind turbine blade broke over the weekend, scattering debris into the Atlantic and prompting an investigation by the manufacturer and federal officials.

The offshore wind energy company, which is in the middle of constructing a 62-turbine wind farm about 14 miles south of the Vineyard, said a 107-meter blade broke on Saturday about 20 meters from the root, but was largely still attached to the turbine.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is investigating the incident and said Monday that operations at the wind farm are shut down until further notice.

The malfunction is a setback for the Vineyard Wind, the first approved and currently largest offshore wind energy project in the country.

Read the full article at the Vineyard Gazette

Compensation Program For Fishermen Impacted By Vineyard Wind Unveiled

March 7, 2024 — Avangrid is announcing that the Vineyard Wind 1 project has launched its Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program.

Avangrid says the third-party administered program seeks to provide fair, equitable compensation for commercial fishermen for economic impacts attributable to the project’s construction, operations, and decommissioning activities.

There’s a deadline of June 3rd for fishermen to qualify for compensation from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

Read the full article at CapeCod.com

Fishermen can now get paid if Vineyard Wind hurts business

March 6, 2024 — Vineyard Wind is inviting fishermen to apply for compensation if they’ve been impacted by the offshore wind farm 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Fishermen have 90 days to show they’ve historically used the lease area and a third party administrator — with the help of fishing representatives — will decide how to divide up a $19.1 million pot through the Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program to Massachusetts fishermen.

Rhode Island fishermen will have access to $4.2 million, and $3.3 million will be divided between fishermen in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. The area may have been used by those who target everything from squid, to clams, scallops, lobster, and more.

“I feel good about this mitigation fund,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “Vineyard Wind is the first offshore wind developer to have steel in federal waters and to come out with their mitigation plan.”

Plus, she added, the funds start at construction rather than completion of the wind farm, which is better for fishermen.

“The impact [of Vineyard Wind] will be real because [fishermen] cannot fish in there while they’re constructing it,” she said. “And the ecosystem is being disturbed to a level that they anticipated 100% decline during construction. So if you’re making $50,000 in that lease area, that’s a $50,000 hit you’re going to lose.”

Read the full article at CAI

Vineyard Wind wind plans to deliver power in mid-October

August 3, 2023 — The first clean wind power generated by the Vineyard Wind 1 project is expected to flow onto the regional grid by mid-October and the first-in-the-nation offshore wind project should be fully operational by this time next year, project officials said Wednesday during a boat tour of the construction.

Project developers have maintained for years that the $4 billion project they are building about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard would start to generate cleaner energy by the end of 2023, but they told a group of state lawmakers, clean energy advocates, organized labor representatives and others that the target is now mid-October, or just over two months from now.

At first, the project will send power generated by a string of six turbines onto the grid, totaling about 78 megawatts, with plans to ramp the project up to between 200 and 300 MW by the end of the year and full commercial operations of 806 MW expected by mid-2024, according to Sy Oytan, Avangrid’s chief operating officer for offshore wind.

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, began offshore construction activities in June by setting the foundations for the 62 turbines that will make up the project that has been years in the making.

On Wednesday, about 15 representatives and two senators were among those who got to see the progress of that construction from aboard the Captain John and Son II, which was chartered for the tour by Avangrid, the Environmental League of Massachusetts and the New England for Offshore Wind Coalition.

When they are fully assembled, each of Vineyard Wind 1’s 62 turbines will stretch about 850 feet above the Atlantic Ocean — taller than any building in New England. There was not much to see in the way of towers or turbines Wednesday — those on the boat tour saw a series of foundations with “transition pieces” sticking up out of the water, each arranged one nautical mile away from others in a grid pattern.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Northeast states want regional fund to pay fishermen for offshore wind damage

December 15, 2022 — Amid an absence of a federal framework or authority, nine Northeast states have set out to develop a regional fund to compensate the fishing industry for impacts and economic losses caused by offshore wind development. After more than a year of discussion, they are now seeking feedback from both the wind and fishing industries.

Fishermen worry about gear loss and damage, loss of historic fishing grounds, negative impacts to fish habitats, increased insurance costs, and longer trips (and thus increased fuel expenses) as a result of wind development. They want the farms to avoid fishing grounds entirely, but when that’s not possible, regulations first call for minimization and mitigation. Compensation comes in when the conflicts cannot be avoided or minimized.

Due to a lack of a federal, standardized system, compensation up to this point has been decided on a project-by-project and state-by-state basis, including for Vineyard Wind south of Martha’s Vineyard, which allocated about $21 million for Massachusetts fishermen over the lifespan of the project.

“This has resulted in inconsistencies in estimating impacts to fisheries and the agreed-upon funds used to compensate for such impacts,” wrote the nine states to Amanda Lefton, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in a November of 2021 letter, adding the current approach may create inequities for the fishing and wind industries.

To address this, the states have been working to establish a “fund administrator” — which they say they assume will be funded by wind developers — that would, in a consistent way, collect funds, review claims and dispense funds to fishermen across the region for economic losses caused by offshore wind projects.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light