Saving Seafood

BOEM Releases Long-Awaited Offshore Wind Review

June 15, 2020 — The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has released its long-anticipated update to its environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the Vineyard Wind offshore windfarm, including an analysis of the cumulative effects of offshore wind development off the U.S. East Coast.

BOEM predicts that developers will eventually  install up to 2,000 wind turbines producing up to 22 gigawatts of power off the Eastern seaboard. The first significant project in the permitting pipeline is Vineyard Wind, an 800 MW, 57-turbine development off the coast of Rhode Island.

The 420-page supplemental EIS acknowledged that under all scenarios, Vineyard Wind will have a moderate impact on commercial fishing, and concluded that the cumulative effect of multiple windfarms will have a “major” adverse impact on East Coast fisheries. In all but one scenario, the cumulative effect on navigation would be a “major” adverse impact. (“Major” indicates that the affected community would have to adjust to significant disruptions and may see measurable effects indefinitely.)

In a statement, BOEM said that it “recognizes that fishing is an important use of federal waters that will be considered in its decision-making.” The agency said that it will work with commercial and recreational fishermen and will solicit input from the fishing community.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

BOEM report points to strict conditions for Atlantic offshore wind projects

June 12, 2020 — A new environmental assessment of offshore wind power projects issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management could lead to stricter conditions for developers seeking to build new facilities off the Northeast coast.

BOEM’s new supplement to the draft environmental assessment for the Vineyard Wind facility, planned off the coast of Massachusetts, found the project posed potentially “major” adverse impacts to sea life and other industries, particularly commercial fishing.

The document is an update to the draft Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard that BOEM issued in 2018. Last year, the agency announced it would extend the permitting process for the 800 MW facility so it could assess the impacts not just of that wind farm, but others planned by Northeastern states to meet clean energy targets.

The report released Tuesday assesses an array of construction scenarios for Vineyard and 22 gigawatts of other facilities planned in New England waters. It considers the creation of a transit lane for fishing and other sea traffic, as well as changes to the project’s turbine layout and the siting of a substation to connect the project to the onshore power grid.

Read the full story at Politico

Long-awaited federal report issued on Vineyard Wind

June 12, 2020 — The long road to construction of what may be the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm appears to be reaching the end as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday released its report on the impacts of the proposed Vineyard Wind project.

The report marked the last major hurdle faced by the 800-megawatt project of 57 to 100 turbines rising nearly 500 feet at the hub from the ocean. The wind farm is located about 40 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. This report, along with a Coast Guard report released late last month, represent additional measures required after the Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Environmental Protection Agency requested additional reports on the cumulative impacts on navigation, marine industry and the environment for the 1 million acres of ocean off Massachusetts and Rhode Island set aside for wind turbines.

The bureau’s report, a supplement to its original Environmental Impact Statement, looked at both local impacts and cumulative effects of offshore wind along the Atlantic seaboard. Environmental impacts were rated negligible, and deemed minor to moderate for marine mammals, birds, turtles, fish and marine and coastal habitats. The bureau found wind power would have a negligible to minor impact on local employment and economics, but would be beneficial when considering the wider Atlantic coast area.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

RODA Nets $150,000 Grant from NMFS to Hold Symposium on Fisheries and Offshore Wind

June 11, 2020 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) received a $150,000 grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to hold a symposium on current knowledge of fisheries and offshore wind interactions.

The first of its kind project, “Understanding the State of the Science,” will advance agency, fishing industry, offshore wind energy developer and public understanding of existing research on interactions between the two industries, RODA said.

Read the full story at Seafood News

BOEM issues new draft environmental statement on Vineyard Wind

June 11, 2020 — A long-anticipated Bureau of Ocean Energy Management study of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind offshore energy project – broadened to examine potential impacts of similar projects from Maine to Georgia – has been released for a 45-day public comment period.

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement acknowledges Vineyard Wind and other planned wind turbine arrays will have major impacts on the commercial fishing industry. That aspect was flagged as a failing of an earlier impact statement, when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic regional fisheries office refused to sign off on BOEM’s study.

“Our goal is that all users can successfully coexist,” BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said Thursday during the International Partnering Forum, an online event held by the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

Cruickshank, whose agency is viewed skeptically by many in the fishing industry, stressed BOEM recognizes fishing as a crucial maritime industry and is reaching out to commercial and recreational sectors.

With the covid-19 pandemic limiting public gatherings, BOEM began planning early on for alternatives to public hearings on the environmental statement. The process now includes five live virtual meetings from June 26 to July 9 for public comments and questions.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Capturing the green energy of the deep blue sea

June 10, 2020 — Nasser Alshemaimry was on a boat last month, heading for a spot in the Atlantic Ocean to test out his turbines. He was also, he said, heading for completion of his final life goal.

“This is my last hurrah,” said Alshemaimry, 70. “I’m going to do this and then retire.”

A year ago his company, OceanBased Perpetual Energy, agreed to work with Florida Atlantic University to develop a way to generate electricity by harnessing the steady-flowing Gulf Stream, the powerful ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic and up the East Coast to Canada. Now his company was ready for the first test of five types of turbines to see which one would work best while anchored 80 feet below the ocean’s surface.

A successful test, Alshemaimry said, would lead to a project that would cost an estimated $16 billion. The goal: in five years, producing 5 gigawatts of electricity from turbines spun by the Gulf Stream, which would be sent through underwater cables to a power distribution station built in the West Palm Beach area.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Feds release Vineyard Wind environmental assessment

June 10, 2020 — Federal regulators on Tuesday released a detailed, 420-page environmental assessment of the proposed Vineyard Wind project that includes predictions about the future of wind energy along the East Coast and suggests the impact on commercial fishing of six possible wind farm configurations would be roughly the same.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management put Vineyard Wind on hold last year to take a look at the project through the broader lens of what’s going on in offshore wind overall along the East Coast.  The resulting assessment, called a supplementl to the company’s draft environmental impact statement, forecasts 22 gigawatts of offshore wind development along the East Coast over the next 10 years, the equivalent of about 2 percent of current electricity production. The analysis estimates as many as 2,000 wind turbines will be installed over the 10-year period.

Vineyard Wind would be located off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and consist of between 57 and 100 turbines producing 800 megawatts of power. The project is jointly owned by Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

First major U.S. offshore wind farm reaches permitting milestone

June 10, 2020 — The first major U.S. offshore wind farm, planned for the Massachusetts coast, reached a key permitting milestone on Tuesday with the release of a long-awaited federal environmental study that considers the project’s impacts on fisheries and navigation.

Publication of the document marks a step forward for the Vineyard Wind project, which has experienced delays over concerns that its wind turbines will hurt commercial fishing. The supplemental review by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, announced last year, also considered the impacts of many such projects due to the growing number of offshore wind farms planned for the East Coast.

The Trump administration has sought to fire up development of the nascent offshore wind industry as part of its policy to boost domestic energy production.

The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind is expected to generate enough power for more than 400,000 homes in Massachusetts. The lease area is located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.

Read the full story at Reuters

Interior: Offshore wind to have major ‘adverse’ effects

June 10, 2020 — Offshore wind farms could have a major “adverse” impact on commercial fisheries, according to a long-awaited analysis from the Interior Department released yesterday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s draft supplemental environmental review for Vineyard Wind — the first anticipated large-scale wind project in the United States — arrives nearly a year after a final decision on the project was expected.

BOEM delayed a final environmental analysis at the eleventh hour last summer and announced the launch of the supplemental review, arguing that the rapid expansion of offshore wind proposals and coastal state wind procurement policies necessitated a broader examination of wind’s foreseeable impacts (E&E News PM, Aug. 9, 2019).

The supplemental study, which is to be published in the Federal Register at an unspecified time, looks beyond Vineyard Wind — which is planned off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. — and outlines a host of effects that the burgeoning offshore wind sector in the Northeast could have on other industries, the environment and marine life.

It notes, for example, major cumulative impacts to commercial and recreational fishing, scientific research, and in some cases environmental justice across a suite of development scenarios. Additionally, moderate cumulative impacts are expected to marine mammals and minor cumulative impacts to air quality.

Read the full story at E&E News

Fishermen say Massachusetts, Oregon fail in offshore wind planning

June 9, 2020 — Massachusetts commercial fishing groups objected to a proposed $19 million fund to compensate them for impacts on the industry from the planned Vineyard Wind 804-megawatt offshore wind energy project, saying the plan emerged without adequate input from the fishing community.

“As far as we can tell, this plan was developed by Vineyard Wind through private meetings and consultations with officials from Massachusetts government,” the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership wrote in a May 29 to the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, following an email from state officials announcing the compensation plan. “Massachusetts officials may have had the best intentions for the fishing community, but they are not the fishing community and should not have developed a plan on behalf of the fishing community.”

“The plan dramatically undervalues the fishing industry and dismisses legitimate concerns raised by the fishing community and the National Marine Fisheries Service,” the group added.

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, “the Fisheries Mitigation Plan will provide funds to offset economic impacts to Massachusetts fisheries across two separate funds:” $19.18 million to provide compensation for claims by Massachusetts fishing businesses for economic losses during any phase of the Vineyard Wind project, and a $1.75 million “Fisheries Innovation Fund to support programs and projects that support innovative solutions and technology development to ensure safe and profitable fishing continues off the coast of Massachusetts.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman