Saving Seafood

Vineyard Wind signs $9 million lease at New Bedford commerce pier

October 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A heavy-lift pier in this South Coast fishing port will see plenty of use as a staging area for the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

Vineyard Wind on Monday signed a $6 million annual lease to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal for at least 18 months. The total comes to $9 million unless the lease is extended.

The 29-acre marine terminal, owned and operated by the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, was custom-built to support the construction, assembly, and transport of offshore wind components. It is equipped with mobile crane and load features “that rival the highest capacity ports in the world,” and also handles other large marine cargo, according to the agency.

Vineyard Wind in May won a state contest to provide Massachusetts utilities with 800 megawatts of clean power. It has leased a 160,000 acre federal area 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The company plans an underwater transmission cable that will land on Cape Cod.

Read the full story at MassLive

 

Vineyard Wind Signs Milestone Lease Deal With Massachusetts

October 23, 2018 — Massachusetts’ Baker-Polito administration and Vineyard Wind have announced a lease agreement to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging and deployment location for Vineyard Wind’s offshore development.

In May, an 800 MW offshore wind farm proposed by Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, was selected as the winning bid under Massachusetts’ 83C offshore wind solicitation.

Constructed and operated by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is a 29-acre heavy-lift facility designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container and large specialty marine cargo. The new agreement between MassCEC and Vineyard Wind represents a commitment to an 18-month lease at $6 million annually.

“By signing this lease agreement with Vineyard Wind, we have achieved another major milestone to secure long-term jobs and economic growth for the people of Massachusetts,” says Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “Establishing an offshore wind supply chain in Massachusetts is critical to our mission to strengthen our economy while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.”

In April, MassCEC released a report on the workforce needs and economic impact of the emerging offshore wind industry. It found that the deployment of 1,600 MW of offshore wind is estimated to support 6,870-9,850 job years over the next 10 years and generate a total economic impact in Massachusetts of $1.4 billion-$2.1 billion.

“The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal provides Massachusetts with an important piece of infrastructure that will be critical in helping the offshore wind industry to establish operations in this new American marketplace,” says Stephen Pike, CEO of MassCEC.

“Today’s announcement not only cements Vineyard Wind’s commitment to stage the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind project from the Port of New Bedford, but it reinforces New Bedford’s leadership position in offshore wind energy,” adds New Bedford’s mayor, Jon Mitchell.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod landing for offshore wind cable approved by Barnstable

October 23, 2018 — If all goes as planned, an underwater transmission cable for the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind plant will land at a Cape Cod beach.

Barnstable officials on Thursday agreed to grant Vineyard Wind a power cable easement at Covell Beach in the village of Centerville. The vote followed negotiation of a host community agreement that will pay the town up to $32 million over the next 25 years.

Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, says it’s on schedule to build its wind power station 34 miles off Cape Cod and 14 miles from Martha’s Vineyard. The company plans 106 turbines in a $2 billion project, and hopes to be operational in 2021.

The state’s Energy Facilities siting Board will have final say over the cable route, and environmental and fisheries considerations are part of the discussion. Other state and federal permits are still needed.

Vineyard Wind is a 50-50 partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, and was selected in May by state officials and utility representatives to supply 800 megawatts of renewable power to Massachusetts.

The project will reduce the state’s carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 cars, and power 400,000 homes, the company stated.

Read the full story at MassLive

BOEM requires transit corridors for offshore wind energy areas

October 22, 2018 — The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is requiring offshore wind energy developers to set aside vessel transit corridors, amid intense discussions with the commercial fishing industry.

In a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the agency announced it would offer an additional 390,000 acres south of Massachusetts for lease on Dec. 13. That would extend large areas already leased from Block Island, R.I., to south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The BOEM notice includes a new requirement for planning safe transit lanes through future arrays of turbine towers on the shallow continental shelf.

“The fishing industry has raised concerns with the ability to safely transit the existing and offered leases, particularly with their ability to quickly and safely return to port during inclement weather,” agency officials wrote.

At a Sept. 20 meeting in Massachusetts, Coast Guard officials and fishing industry groups proposed transit lanes through the leases to BOEM and wind developers Baystate Wind, Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind (since merged with Norwegian energy company Equinor, formerly known as Statoil).

“Representatives from the squid, groundfish, scallop, and other fisheries agreed that the two nautical-mile-wide transit corridors through the existing leases would provide the ability to safely transit to and from the fishing grounds. BOEM expects these, or similar, transit corridors to be finalized in the near future, and future lessees will be required to incorporate them into their plans,” the lease sale notice states.

Read the full story at Work Boat   

 

RODA Hosts Vineyard Wind Workshop October 31st in Warwick, R.I.

October 22, 2018 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) will convene a one-day workshop on October 31st, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island from 9 am-5 pm. The workshop will have two objectives:

To establish consensus on fishing transit lanes on the Vineyard Wind and adjacent lease sites; and
To provide broad-level input to Vineyard Wind regarding potential fisheries mitigation framework strategies.

This facilitated workshop will include representatives from the affected fishing industry, the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Vineyard Wind, Ørsted, Deepwater Wind, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, National Marine Fisheries Service, and others. We urge all interested fishing industry participants to attend and provide feedback on these critically important issues.

Background

The Massachusetts Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind has spent considerable time over the past several months developing consensus on transit corridors through the wind energy lease sites in federal waters off of Massachusetts and Rhode Island that are acceptable to the fishing industry from safety and operational perspectives. The Rhode Island Fisheries Advisory Board has also engaged at length on this issue. At its meeting on September 20th, the Massachusetts group finalized a document that represented broad consensus from fishing industry and other participants. That recommendation is described in the following map:

Since then, certain interests have stated that they will not support the recommendation and there is now a great deal of uncertainty regarding what transit lanes will ultimately be proposed and approved. Therefore, this workshop is intended to consider minor revisions to that recommendation in order to achieve certainty surrounding the transit issue, using the MA consensus document as a starting point for the discussion.

Additionally, Vineyard Wind is in the process of developing fisheries mitigation recommendations for its lease site, which it will finalize in the very near future. This forum will allow an opportunity for the fishing industry to provide general input on elements of a successful mitigation plan for Vineyard Wind’s consideration.

For questions or additional information, please contact Annie Hawkins at annie@rodafisheries.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: Feds see much potential in state’s offshore wind

October 19, 2018 — The federal government plans in December to hold an offshore wind auction featuring 390,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts, an area that officials say could provide enough power to serve 1.5 million homes.

“The Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement after announcing plans for the Dec. 13 auction while addressing the American Wind Energy Association’s Offshore Wind Conference on Wednesday in Washington.

The federal government has previously leased waters off the coast of Massachusetts for offshore wind development and one of those leaseholders, Vineyard Wind, was selected by state and utility officials to build an 800-megawatt commercial wind energy installation south of Martha’s Vineyard.

On March 30, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its notice to prepare an environmental impact statement for the construction and operations plan submitted by Vineyard Wind.

Read the full story at The Salem News

Massachusetts DMF: Covell Beach better spot for Vineyard Wind cable

October 11, 2018 — An underwater cable proposed by offshore energy company Vineyard Wind will pose less of a threat to marine resources if it makes landfall at a Centerville beach instead of traveling through Lewis Bay, according to state fisheries officials.

“To avoid and minimize marine resource impacts, Covell’s Beach is a better choice,” Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce wrote in a letter last week to Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton.

The Oct. 3 letter reviews new information contained in a 1,111-page supplemental draft environmental impact report that Vineyard Wind filed in August with the Energy and Environmental Affairs. The supplemental report follows up on an earlier draft issued in April, and includes more detailed information about two possible landing sites for the 800-megawatt cable that will connect the company’s turbines southwest of Martha’s Vineyard with the electrical grid: New Hampshire Avenue in West Yarmouth and at Covell Beach in Centerville.

Although the company’s initial filings — including the supplemental report — listed New Hampshire Avenue as its preferred landing site, a host community agreement signed by Vineyard Wind and the town of Barnstable last week stipulates that Covell Beach is now the preferred site.

Beaton is chairman of the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board, which will decide where the cable comes onshore after considering reliability, environmental impacts and costs, according to its website. The board began a monthlong hearing on the issue last week, and is expected to announce its decision in April.

Because the decision on where to site the cable rests with the board, Vineyard Wind is still pursuing both locations.

Bringing the cable onshore at New Hampshire Avenue could pose a threat to numerous marine resources, according to Pierce’s letter.

“New Hampshire Avenue, within Lewis Bay, will potentially impact shellfish beds, a depuration area, bay scallop habitat, and a mooring field,” the letter says. A depuration area is a location used to cleanse or purify seafood.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Vineyard Wind enters host community agreement with the Town of Barnstable

October 9, 2018 — Massachusetts offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind has entered into a host community agreement (HCA) with the Town of Barnstable. The agreement, which has been filed with the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), represents another milestone for the United States’ first large-scale offshore wind farm as it advances through the permitting process to the onset of construction in 2019 and operations by 2021.

The HCA requires Vineyard Wind to make annual payments to Barnstable of at least $1.534 million each year in combined property taxes and host community payments. The pact guarantees a total Host Community Payment of $16 million, plus an additional $60,000 (adjusted for inflation annually), for each year the project is in operation beyond 25 years.

The HCA also provides opportunity for detailed review of Vineyard Wind’s specifications for a new substation by the Town, further ensuring protection of groundwater along with reliable delivery of clean energy to serve over 400,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses.

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development

 

Vineyard Wind execs buoyed by financial report

October 1, 2018 — Top executives with Vineyard Wind were optimistic Thursday about completion dates for their offshore project after a financial report indicated timely permitting by a federal oversight agency.

Vineyard Wind intends to be in operation by 2021, said Laura Beane, president and CEO of Avangrid Renewables, which owns 50 percent of Vineyard Wind.

“We are on schedule,” Beane said in a phone call before her appearance Friday on an offshore energy panel at “The Ocean’s Turn” conference at Tufts University. Joining Beane on the call was Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen, an executive with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which owns the other 50 percent of Vineyard Wind.

“Vineyard Wind will be the very first large-scale offshore facility here in the U.S.,” Beane said. “There’s a tremendous amount of energy and excitement because people see the potential.”

Pedersen, too, said there is “a huge opportunity” for U.S. citizens to become part of an industry that is very mature in Europe and now being moved across the Atlantic.

“Those who get in early have a much better opportunity to be there long-term than those later on, and the opportunities will definitely be there,” he said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

Fishing insider embraces new role as Vineyard Wind liaison

September 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — In 12 years, research biologist Crista Bank spent a lot of hours at sea aboard local fishing vessels, but never once heard wheelhouse chatter about the industrial-sized wind farms planned a dozen miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

“It wasn’t really a topic of discussion,” said Bank, the new fisheries liaison for offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind. “You would think it would be, something this huge on the horizon.”

Even for her, deep in research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science & Technology, the magnitude of what will be Vineyard Wind’s $2 billion, 106-turbine offshore construction project didn’t sink in until she happened to pass five turbines off Block Island two years ago.

“I saw them, and I was like, really?” Bank said of her reaction.

It may be that head-down, focused attitude of a researcher that allows Bank to empathize with what she says is a similar attitude of many fishermen — scallopers, lobstermen, pot fishermen, gill-netters, squid fishermen, small-mesh draggers, large draggers, inshore and offshore boat captains, charter boat captains, recreational and pelagic anglers — she knows and hopes to meet.

“I sort of see the fishermen’s perspective a lot more,” Bank said “I believe in offshore energy. I believe we need to do it. I have solar panels on my house. I’m totally for renewable energy.” But, Bank said, those turbines will be placed squarely where people make a living.

Bank might be best known now in the region for her fisheries research. But before that, she crewed aboard the tall ship Ernestina and was an onboard fishing vessel observer for the National Marine Fisheries Service. Bank considers New Bedford her home.

“Crista has an excellent track record in cooperative research with the fishing industry,” said Steven Lohrenz, dean of the UMass Dartmouth marine science school. Bank is knowledgeable about fisheries science and about the challenges being faced by fishermen, said Lohrenz, who first mentioned the Vineyard Wind job to Bank. Bank is also personable and a good communicator, he said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times