Saving Seafood

Black Sea Bass Sensitive to Ocean Noise in Wind Energy Development Areas

October 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists looking at the effects of underwater pile driving and construction noise on sea life have found that black sea bass can hear these sounds. The noise may interfere with their natural behavior.

Their study is the first to look at the impact of ocean noise on this fish species. It found that younger fish were more sensitive to sounds than older fish. The frequencies at which the fish are most sensitive to sound directly overlap with frequencies of human-produced noise pollution. This noise comes from activities like shipping and the underwater construction required for offshore wind farms.

“No one knew for sure how much black sea bass can hear and how that changes as they age,” said Beth Phelan, a fishery biologist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s laboratory at Sandy Hook, New Jersey and a co-author of the study. “We do know that black sea bass are attracted to underwater structures, and have anecdotal information that they move away from noise. We had to first determine the range of sounds they can hear by giving them a type of hearing test, much like we do to humans.”

Black sea bass are a commercially and recreationally important fish in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the coastal region from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to southern New England. Wind farms planned in the region overlap with current black sea bass habitat, exposing fish to construction and operational noises. Pile driving, for example, produces sounds that might stress fish, impacting their choice of habitat, feeding, social interaction and reproduction.

Read the full release here

NEW JERSEY: New CEO vows Ørsted will fulfill jobs promises with offshore wind farm

October 26, 2020 — Ørsted Offshore North America, the Danish company that won the right to build an offshore wind farm about 12 miles southeast of Atlantic City in the Atlantic Ocean, has a new leader with New Jersey roots.

David Hardy, a 49-year-old American and Navy veteran, said Thursday he will make sure the company fulfills all of its promises to create jobs in offshore wind equipment manufacturing and supply chain services.

Hardy was born in the Fort Monmouth/Eatontown area of Monmouth County, but moved around the country growing up as his father was in the military.

He has replaced Thomas Brostrøm, the Dane who has been with the company 11 years and led its U.S. offshore wind efforts since 2015. Brostrøm will soon move back to Europe to become the leader of a global energy company, according to Ørsted.

Hardy has spoken to State Senate President Steve Sweeney about Sweeney’s concerns that Ørsted hasn’t worked fast enough to set up manufacturing and supply chain businesses in New Jersey.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Wind Conference Goes Virtual

October 26, 2020 — Hundreds attended the first in a series of virtual open houses about a wind farm off New Jersey’s southern coast, which proponents expect to be the start of a new clean energy industry in the region.  

Construction is expected to begin in the early 2020s, with the first project expected to provide power to a half-million New Jersey homes.   

The event was held remotely because of the pandemic. Kris Ohleth, senior stakeholder relations manager for Ørsted, the Danish company that won the contract for the first round of wind farm construction, in New Jersey, said they would’ve preferred to meet with the public face to face, but said that option is not practical.  

Participants in the Oct. 20 event signed up in advance and were emailed a link to the conference room. Before the event started, the link led to an image of a conference room much like any in the world, down to the lines of white folding chairs at a podium set at the front of the room.  

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

U.S. House of Representatives introduces bill with 25-GW by 2030 offshore wind target

October 22, 2020 —       

 

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development

Ocean climate bill is a grab bag for marine stakeholders

October 21, 2020 — Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, today introduced the Oceans-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020.

We could start with the irony of a representative from Arizona introducing an oceans climate bill, hailing not only from a landlocked state, but one most known for its lack of water.

But let’s instead lead with the fact that the blueprint for this bill was introduced and failed to make it out of committee in California — one of the nation’s most progressive states. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom has made an end run around the legislative process by creating an executive order to effect the changes in the bill that could not pass with votes.

The federal bill is more than a mixed bag. Reading its 324 pages felt like swinging at a piñata packed with a mix of treats and lit fireworks.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Democrats push expansion of offshore wind, block offshore drilling with ocean energy bill

October 21, 2020 — A new bill from House Democrats turns to the oceans as a way to fight climate change, proposing to expand offshore wind while barring drilling along America’s coasts.

The more than 300-page legislation is broadly billed as a “blue carbon” bill — a way to harvest clean energy while protecting fisheries and resources like marshes and wetlands that can store carbon and protect eroding shorelines.

The Ocean Based Climate Solutions Act, introduced Tuesday, comes as the ocean is rapidly warming and acidifying, a result of climate change and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.

The bill directs the Department of the Interior to up the number of permits for offshore wind projects, where higher wind speeds allow windmills to generate more electricity than they do on land.

The bill also repackages some measures already before the House, such as a pledge to conserve 30 percent of oceans by 2030 and an approved measure to bar offshore drilling along both coasts that has failed to advance in the Senate.

Read the full story at The Hill

Offshore Wind Research Buoys Float into California’s Waters

October 19, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory :

Two offshore wind research buoys managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) were deployed recently off the coast of California. This marks the first time the buoys have been launched to gather meteorological and oceanographic measurements off the West Coast.

The pair of buoys were deployed by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, with this research funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management—or BOEM. BOEM is gathering data to support decisions on potential leasing of wind energy sites off California’s coastline that will bring a new renewable energy source to the state.

One buoy is stationed in approximately 625 meters (more than 2,050 feet) of water off Humboldt County along the northern coast. The second buoy is deployed in about 1,000 meters (more than 3,280 feet) of water off Morro Bay along the central coastline.

“The buoys are stationed off the coast of California in deep water and will gather wind measurements for 12 months,” said PNNL’s Alicia Gorton, who oversees the buoys and the deployments. “The measurements they obtain will provide BOEM and offshore wind stakeholders with the most accurate and detailed information needed to make solid decisions regarding wind energy development, such as siting and design considerations.”

Read the full release here

NEW YORK: Five State Agencies Sign On to Wind Farm Plan

October 16, 2020 — The joint proposal that the developers of the South Fork Wind farm filed with the New York State Public Service Commission last month in support of their application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need under Article VII of the Public Service Law received prominent backing last week with the addition of five state agencies.

The Department of Public Service, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Transportation, the Department of State, and the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation signed the joint proposal, a list of conditions on which stakeholders have reached consensus over 10 months of negotiations. Stakeholders include East Hampton Town and the town trustees, and groups and individuals advocating for and against the wind farm.

The Department of Public Service is the staff of the Public Service Commission. Under the Public Service Law, the commission “shall designate such members of its staff as may be desirable to represent the public interest in such proceedings.” As such, it is an interested party in the Article VII proceeding.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

BOEM needs staffing help with offshore wind permitting regardless of election results, experts say

October 16, 2020 — BOEM is reviewing the Construction and Operation Plans (COP) for a number of projects in the Atlantic, which are contingent on the agency issuing its first Environmental Impact Statement for a large-scale offshore wind project in federal waters.

“I think there is a recognition that BOEM doesn’t have all the resources to put out six or seven COPs at one time,” particularly in the same wind energy areas, Geri Edens, counsel for Vineyard Wind, said on the panel.

But while staggering the permitting of the rest of the projects might make sense for BOEM, it is “not necessarily ideal for the industry, because everyone’s been waiting for a while now to get these things forward,” she said.

BOEM had pushed back its review of Vineyard Wind’s Massachusetts construction plan for 1.5 years, deciding that permitting for offshore wind needed to be done in a more holistic capacity, including considerations for further expansion of the resource.

The delay has led other projects to revise their timelines, such as the 120 MW Skipjack Offshore Energy wind farm, which originally sought commercial operation as early as November 2022.

The bandwidth of BOEM will be stretched in January 2021 regardless of how the election turns out, experts say.

According to the Permitting Dashboard for Federal Infrastructure Projects produced by DOI and other agencies, federal permitting applications for Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind Farm are both in progress. BOEM has received COPs for 10 offshore wind projects to date.

Read the full story at Utility Drive

Offshore wind project completes final step, ready to deliver renewable energy to Virginians

October 15, 2020 — Dominion Energy announced Wednesday that the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project has completed the final stage of testing and is ready to enter commercial service providing clean, renewable energy to Virginians.

“This is a monumental day for the Commonwealth and the burgeoning offshore wind industry in America as CVOW is ready to deliver clean, renewable energy to our Virginia customers,” said Joshua Bennett, Dominion Energy vice president of offshore wind.

“Our team has worked diligently with key stakeholders and regulators while safely navigating through the coronavirus pandemic to complete this vitally important project that is a key step to reducing carbon emissions,” Bennett continued.

The next step for the two turbine, 12-megawatt project is submitting final documentation to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to complete its technical review — which is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

Read the full story at WAVY