Saving Seafood

Massachusetts: Fishing industry reps express offshore wind resistance

April 11, 2018 — Fishing industry representatives from all along the East Coast sent an urgent missive to Governor Charlie Baker on Monday, asking him to delay this month’s selection of the company that will construct the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The National Coalition of Fishing Communities (NCFC) cites three key concerns: the project size, the lack of study on potential impacts, and a lack of communication with the fishing industry from potential developers.

Three companies have bid to construct wind farms in the ocean south of Martha’s Vineyard, as part of a roughly 1,600-megawatt procurement mandated by a 2016 energy diversification law.

One of the companies, Vineyard Wind, has proposed projects capable of generating 400 megawatts or 800 megawatts. Vineyard Wind is a partnership between Vineyard Power, Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.

There are two other companies in the running: Deepwater Wind, which built America’s first offshore wind farm near Block Island, R.I., and Bay State Wind, a partnership between Denmark-based Ørsted and Eversource.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

 

NEFMC Meeting: April 17-19, 2018, Mystic, CT, Listen Live, View Documents

April 11, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a three-day meeting from Tuesday, April 17 through Thursday, April 19, 2018. The public is invited to listen-in via webinar or telephone. Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355; Hilton Hotel Mystic.

START TIME:  The webinar will be activated at 8:00 a.m. each day. However, please note that the meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. The webinar will end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST or shortly after the Council adjourns each day.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (914) 614-3221. The access code is 167-206-035. Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The agenda and all meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at April 17-19, 2018 NEFMC Mystic.

SPECIAL EVENT:  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Office of Renewable Energy Programs will be holding an open house on Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in conjunction with the Council meeting. The event will be held in the Clipper Room near the Council’s main meeting room. BOEM has scheduled this open house to: (a) gather feedback on recently proposed commercial offshore renewable energy projects; (b) enhance communications between leaseholders and the fishing community; (c) answer questions about future leasing; and (d) solicit public comment on recently published public notices, including the Vineyard Wind project, which currently is under a 30-day public comment period with five public hearings scheduled from April 16 through April 19. Four will be held in Massachusetts (New Bedford, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Hyannis) and one in Kingston, RI. Learn more at Vineyard Wind notice and hearing schedule and visit open house.

GROUNDFISH NOTE:  On Wednesday morning, the Council will receive an overview of Northeast Fishery Sector IX’s steps to address its shortcomings, as well as a summary of Sector IX’s proposed operations plan as submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. Because of recent information received from the industry, NMFS’s consultation with the Council on Sector IX likely will include: (a) discussion of the proposed Sector VII operations plan amendments that relate to Sector IX; (b) other sectors as they relate to Sector IX; and (c) effects on the sector system generally. The Council may provide recommendations to NMFS on any topics discussed.

 THREE MEETING OUTLOOK:  A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available HERE.

 

President Trump Expands Wind Leases Off Martha’s Vineyard

April 9, 2018 — The Trump administration will expand wind energy leases off Martha’s Vineyard, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior announced Friday.

In a press release, Secretary Ryan Zinke said two more areas off Massachusetts totaling some 390,000 acres would go up for sale for future commercial wind farms. The lease area lies near a 300,000-acre swath of wind-rich deepwater ocean already designated for commercial wind farms, roughly 15 to 25 miles south of the Vineyard.

No wind farms have been built yet off Massachusetts, but a high-stakes business race is on as well-funded developers work their way through a dense bureaucractic process of permitting at the state and federal level. Construction could begin by 2019 and run through 2022.

The next key date in the permitting process is April 23, when bid winners will be announced for state-mandated energy contracts with utility providers. Tied to a 2016 law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker requiring state utility companies to buy 1,600 megawatts of power from alternative energy sources in the next decade, the energy contracts are critical for wind developers since they provide a way for wind farms to transmit electricity to consumers via the grid.

To date, three developers have been awarded leases to build utility-scale wind farms off the Vineyard: Vineyard Wind, Deepwater Wind and Baystate Wind.

Vineyard Wind is a partnership between Vineyard Power, the Island energy cooperative, and the Danish company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which has an offshore wind development arm.

Deepwater Wind, based in Providence, R.I., has already launched the country’s first offshore wind farm off Block Island.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

 

Massachusetts: Offshore wind projects make headway

April 6, 2018 — HYANNIS, Mass. — There are two chances on the horizon for the public to dig into the offshore wind energy plans of Vineyard Wind, with federal and state regulatory reviews underway.

At the same time, Vineyard Wind, Bay State Wind and Deepwater Wind — all of which hope to build wind farms off Martha’s Vineyard and sell electricity from the turbines to Massachusetts electricity distributors — are moving forward with regional collaborations they say will result in community benefits.

Vineyard Wind has announced a collaboration with the nonprofit Citizens Energy Corp. to create a fund that would contribute $1 million each year for 15 years for battery energy storage and solar projects in towns that host the offshore wind project. Those communities would include New Bedford, towns on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Barnstable, Yarmouth, and towns across Bristol County.

“We have a deep commitment to helping households in need and advancing the cause of renewable energy,” Citizens Energy CEO Peter Smith said. “Our partnership with Vineyard Wind allows us to accomplish both.”

The fund will be used to create a revolving loan fund for energy efficiency improvements to multifamily, low-income housing, and to give ongoing credits to low-income residents’ electricity bills and backup power and cost savings for public buildings, according to the company.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts: Offshore Wind Company Accepting Public Comments On Proposed Project

April 6, 2018 — An offshore wind developer is seeking comments from the public on potential environmental impacts of its proposed Massachusetts project, which could be the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm if approved.

Vineyard Wind wants to build an 800-megawatt energy facility 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The wind farm’s 106 wind turbine generators would be capable of powering up to 500,000 homes.

The company, along with two other developers, submitted proposals to the state last year in response to a request from power companies.

If their project is approved, Vineyard Wind said their wind farm could be operational as early as 2021.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Feds begin environmental review of Vineyard Wind

April 3, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The federal government is gathering public comments for an environmental report on the Vineyard Wind offshore wind proposal.

Five public meetings are scheduled this month in New Bedford, Vineyard Haven, Nantucket, Hyannis, and at the University of Rhode Island.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to prepare an environmental impact statement on Vineyard Wind’s construction and operations plan. Vineyard Wind, a partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, has proposed an 800-megawatt project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The project could include up to 106 wind turbines, beginning about 14 miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard.

A 30-day comment period runs through Monday, April 30.

Vineyard Wind Partners with UMass Dartmouth to Study Impacts of Offshore Wind Development

March 21, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — To further help inform the public about the impacts of offshore wind development Vineyard Wind is partnering with UMass Dartmouth.

The offshore wind company and the university’s School for Marine Science and Technology will conduct pre- and post-construction assessments of fisheries and ecological conditions for the proposed 800 megawatt wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The assessments would be used to inform future permitting and public policy decisions regarding wind energy facility siting.

“The fishing industry has raised important questions about the impacts of offshore wind development on the marine environment and on sea life, and a comprehensive research effort is needed to provide answers and identify possible solutions,” said Erich Stephens, the chief development officer for Vineyard Wind.

“Our goal in collaborating with the School of Marine Science and Technology is to use our project, which we expect to be the first large-scale offshore wind project in the US, to begin to establish a robust body of knowledge that will benefit the American offshore wind industry and the fishing community for decades to come.”

Under the terms of the collaboration, SMAST staff will solicit input from fisheries’ representatives, policy makers, regulators and academics beginning in the spring of 2018. The phase includes planning for assessment schedules, budgets and objectives. The objective of the scoping exercise is to identify the research questions most relevant and important for understanding how offshore wind and the fishing industry can grow alongside each other.

The initial funding for the scoping process will be provided by Vineyard Wind.

The proposed Vineyard Wind project is 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, and would generate enough electricity to power up to 400,000 homes.

The proposal is still in the permitting process and calls for construction to begin in 2019.

It is one of three companies seeking to develop and offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.

Vineyard Wind has made it through the first step of state’s environmental review.

Read the full story at Cape Cod

 

Massachusetts: Vineyard Wind wins state nod for undersea transmission cable

February 14, 2018 — BOSTON — One of three offshore wind developers hoping to score major Massachusetts utility contracts has made progress in its state environmental review.

Vineyard Wind LLC gained an Environmental Notification Form certificate for a transmission cable from a spot in the Atlantic Ocean to a substation on Cape Cod, the company announced Monday. The ENF certificate lists the issues that must be addressed in an upcoming Draft Environmental Impact Report.

Vineyard Wind plans an 800-megawatt wind farm 34 miles from Cape Cod. The planned transmission cables would travel 40 miles underwater and six miles underground to a switching station in Barnstable, where they would connect to New England’s bulk power grid.

In December, three entities — Baystate Wind, Deepwater Wind and Vineyard Wind — submitted proposals under the Massachusetts Clean Energy RFP. The solicitation seeks up to 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power. The winner, to be announced in April, will gain valuable long-term power contracts with Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil.

Vineyard Wind says it is further along than its competitors, could begin construction in late 2019, and is “the only proposed offshore wind project in Massachusetts that has begun the process of obtaining state and federal permits.”

Read the full story at MassLive

 

Massachusetts: SMAST meeting brings fishing, offshore wind in same room

February 13, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Offshore wind developers spent the majority of a 3-hour meeting Monday attempting to win over the local commercial fishing industry.

For much of the meeting, the fishermen in attendance rolled their eyes, scoffed at various PowerPoint slides and even went as far as to say offshore wind is unwanted.

“Nobody wanted this,” one fisherman out of Point Judith said. “Nobody wanted the problems. We were assured there would be none. And here we are.”

Twenty members of the Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy sat around a table at SMAST East hoping to solve various issues between the two ocean-based industries.

The meeting, which featured representatives from Deepwater Wind, Vineyard Wind, and Bay State Wind and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, was called to discuss a plan for an independent offshore wind and fisheries science advisory panel.

“It’s not too late,” said David Pierce of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “As much as we’re working on, now, can be offered up to BOEM and to the different companies specific to the search of projects and specific search of scientific endeavors. We need the research. And we need research to help us address the questions that are being asked by the industry as well as ourselves.”

The science advisory panel would act independently to identify fishery-related scientific and technical gaps related to the future development of offshore wind projects. The panel could also identify offshore wind’s effects on the fishery within Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The panel’s members have yet to be comprised. Debate regarding who should be on the panel began Monday. Everyone agreed experts from all backgrounds should have a seat at the table.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Fisheries and Offshore Wind Working Group To Meet Monday in New Bedford, Mass.

February 9, 2018 (Saving Seafood) – WASHINGTON – A fisheries and offshore wind working group is scheduled to meet with offshore wind developers next Monday, February 12 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET at UMass Dartmouth’s new School for Marine Science and Technology East building, 836 S. Rodney French Boulevard Room 102. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.

The Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy is comprised of commercial fishermen, representatives from various fishing ports and sectors, recreational fishermen, scientists, and state and federal agencies. It is one of two working groups organized by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, along with a working group focused on marine habitat. The group was created to give stakeholders a chance to provide feedback and raise issues with offshore wind developers and the government.

Monday’s meeting will include three offshore wind energy developers – Deepwater Wind, Vineyard Wind, and Orsted – as well as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. One focus of the meeting will be discussing a plan for an independent offshore wind and fisheries science advisory panel to help identify and fill key science and data gaps. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the meeting.