Saving Seafood

U.S. agency again delays key permit for first major U.S. offshore wind farm

November 13, 2020 — A federal agency said on Thursday it has again delayed a long-awaited environmental study crucial to permitting the first major U.S. offshore wind project, but final approval of the project is expected by mid-January.

The study of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project planned for the waters off the Massachusetts coast is expected to be released by Dec. 11, according to a government timeline. It had been anticipated later this week.

The document has been repeatedly pushed back since April of 2019 due to concerns that the project’s wind turbines will harm fisheries and navigation.

The delays have been a setback to President Donald Trump’s efforts to fast-track big energy infrastructure projects and have stymied the administration’s plans to launch a promising new domestic industry.

Read the full story at Reuters

Louisiana pursuing wind energy opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico

November 12, 2020 — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the U.S.’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at the inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Off the coast of Rhode Island, Lafayette-based Aries Marine Corp. and Galliano-based Falcon Global LLC are Louisiana liftboat operators that helped develop the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm — Block Island. For that project, Metairie-based Keystone Engineering provided design assistance and Houma-based Gulf Island Fabrication built foundation jackets and piling.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

LOUISIANA: Gov. Edwards Announces Renewable Energy Initiative for Gulf of Mexico

November 10, 2020 — Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the nation’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at today’s inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Read the full story at KATC

Orsted announces Skipjack Wind Farm project may be delayed again

November 10, 2020 — The completion of one of two proposed wind farms off the coast of Ocean City may be delayed for the second time this year, according to the company in charge of the project.

The completion of the Skipjack Wind Farm, which is being built by Ørsted, is facing another delay, according to comments by Ørsted CEO Henrik Poulsen last week.

“Assuming the permitting process starts moving within the first quarter of next year, it appears highly likely that Revolution Wind, Ocean Wind, Skipjack and Sunrise Wind will be delayed beyond the previously expected 2023 and 2024 construction years,” said Poulsen during a call with investors on Oct. 28.

The Skipjack Wind Farm is a proposed offshore wind project currently in the planning and regulatory review process. The project is slated to be more than 19 miles off the coast of Ocean City and the Delaware coast, and was originally expected to be completed in 2022.

Read the full story at Delmarva Now

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

November 10, 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

Fishing Report: Wind farm developer seeks angler input

November 5, 2020 — Ørsted, owner of the Block Island Wind Farm and five other wind farms off the East Coast, is sponsoring a free Fishinar Series. The aim of the series is to encourage comments from anglers regarding offshore wind farm plans while relating strategies and tactics about how to catch the fish we love to eat through expert charter captains and private anglers.

The first Fishinar, “Angling for Ground Fish,” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, via Zoom. Panelists will include Capt. Chris Willi of Block Island Fish Works, Capt. BJ Silvia of Flippin Out Charters of Portsmouth and Rich Hittinger of Warwick, who is the first vice president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and a ground fishing expert in the near offshore. Species discussed will include summer flounder, cod, tautog and scup.

The second Fishinar, “Angling for Pelagic Fish,” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, via Zoom. Panelists will include charter Capt. John McMurray of New York, president of the American Saltwater Guides Association and a member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters, who is a shark fishing and shark cage diving expert; and Richard Pastore, an RISAA member and near offshore fishing expert. Species discussed will include tuna, sharks and mahi.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Rhode Island in Position for Offshore Wind Power Grab

November 4, 2020 — Local demand for offshore wind power continues to grow, as Rhode Island recently announced plans to buy up to 600 megawatts of new offshore wind energy to meet its renewable-energy targets.

The offshore power grab aligns with Gov. Gina Raimondo’s goal to source 100 percent of the state’s energy from renewable projects by 2030, either by paying for the electricity from renewable-energy projects or buying renewable-energy credits, known as RECs.

“Offshore wind will help us achieve that bold, but achievable goal, while creating jobs and cementing our status as a major hub in the nation’s burgeoning offshore wind industry,” Raimondo is quoted in an Oct. 27 press release.

Rhode Island energy commissioner Nicholas Ucci noted that new offshore wind energy will bolster the regional power grid. The added electricity will aid the transition from oil and gas heat to low-carbon heat sources such as heat pumps.

“Importantly, offshore wind can also help our electric system meet winter peak demand with stability-priced clean electricity, helping temper power price spikes faced by local homes and businesses,” Ucci said.

Read the full story at EcoRI

NOAA scientists study how offshore wind construction noise may affect black sea bass

November 3, 2020 — Scientists at federal fisheries laboratories are investigating how sound generated by the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines may affect black sea bass – a valuable species in the Northeast that is attracted to underwater structures like turbine foundations.

“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, N.J. and a co-author of the study, in a narrative published online by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “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 typically congregate around hard structure, including docks, jetties and shipwrecks, and recreational fishermen and charter captains target them around the Block Island Wind Farm turbines off Rhode Island. The species supports a commercial fishery from the Mid-Atlantic into southern New England, and with waters warming in the Northeast black sea bass are extending their range into the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

North Carolina will work with Maryland, Virginia to grow offshore wind industry

November 2, 2020 — An agreement announced Thursday could help North Carolina turn winds over the Atlantic Ocean into electricity sooner, according to an industry official.

North Carolina will join Maryland and Virginia in the “Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Transformative Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Resources,” which they are calling SMART-POWER for short. Unlike those states, North Carolina doesn’t have legislative mandates or executive orders with targets for offshore wind production, much less actual turbines in the water like Virginia.

The new partnership means North Carolina can apply the lessons already learned in nearby states, said Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for the growth of wind energy.

“North Carolina has been trying to get traction within the wind industry for a while, and some of these states farther north are further along in the process,” Kollins told The News & Observer.

Read the full story at The News & Observer

First offshore wind farm goes offline: An industry warning?

November 2, 2020 — In the new year, the first offshore wind farm in the United States will shut off its turbines, and its customers on nearby Block Island in Rhode Island will revert to diesel generation.

The rocky saeabed around Block Island has been worn away by tides and storms, sometimes exposing high-voltage cables in a popular swimming location that developers failed to bury deep enough when the facility was brought online in 2016. To splice in newly buried cables, the wind farm will go offline for a brief period this spring.

At $30 million for one leg of the fix and an undisclosed amount for the other, it’s a costly problem to crop up for the nation’s first offshore wind farm, and it’s not totally isolated.

Read the full story at E&E News