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NORTH CAROLINA: Wind power ban dropped from wind power legislation

June 26, 2019 — A freeze on new wind turbines the Senate approved for wide swaths of the state is gone from a new proposal on regulating wind turbines.

House and Senate negotiators removed the moratorium the Senate approved in Senate bill 377 and added an addition to the state permitting process by requiring the state to ask for more information from military commanders.

Companies that want to erect wind turbines must already seek local, state and federal approval.

The bill approved by a House committee Tuesday was described as a compromise between the House and Senate. It is a drastic change from the ban on wind turbines Sen. Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican, first proposed. Brown has said wind farms pose a threat to military bases because they can interfere with flight training. Wind farms could weaken future campaigns to keep bases in the state when federal committees evaluate military installations for closure or consolidation, he argued.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

Maine Governor Signs Offshore Wind Bill

June 26, 2019 — Governor Janet Mills has signed legislation directing the Public Utilities Commission to approve the power purchase agreement for the output from New England Maine Aqua Ventus, a pilot offshore wind project. Successful demonstration of the technology has the potential to lead to a 500-megawatt scale project placed in U.S. federal waters.

The project is a 12-megawatt of floating offshore wind pilot developed by Cianbro Corp., the University of Maine and DCNS. Maine Aqua Ventus is supported by nearly $40 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and would be the state’s first offshore wind farm.

This demonstration facility will deploy two 6-megawatt turbines on VolturnUS, a floating concrete semi-submersible hull designed by UMaine south of Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine. Each floating turbine is held in position in the ocean by three marine mooring lines securely anchored to the seabed, with the electrical generation connected by subsea cable to the Maine power grid on shore.

Read the full story at the Commercial Property Executive

Vineyard Wind moves turbines to aid fishing vessels

June 25, 2019 — Vineyard Wind announced Monday that it has adjusted the layout for its 84-turbine wind farm to give more room for fishing vessels operating south of the Islands.

The company has moved the planned location of three 9.5 megawatt turbines farther away from the Nantucket Historic District and Chappaquiddick to create additional distance between the wind farm and commercial fishing areas just south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The redesign also aids fishing vessels traveling around Nomans Land and heading toward fishing grounds southeast of the wind farm, the company said.

The project’s plan to deliver 800 megawatts of electricity annually to three Massachusetts utilities is not affected by the adjustments, according to the company.

“Where possible, we have a responsibility to minimize the project’s footprint with respect to the history and culture of the Cape and Islands, and existing uses of these waters,” said Erich Stevens, Vineyard Wind’s chief development officer.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Ørsted wins 1,100 MW offshore wind contract, biggest in U.S.

June 24, 2019 — Offshore wind energy developer  Ørsted was awarded a 1,100-megawatt commitment by New Jersey Friday for its Ocean Wind project off Atlantic City, the single largest award to date for the budding U.S. industry.

“After so many years New Jersey is finally open for business as far as offshore wind is concerned,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the state Board of Public Utilities, after a unanimous vote to choose Ørsted to build the project on its federal continental shelf lease.

Ørsted contractors have been surveying the tract. It will be the first in what state energy planners hope will be three awards for offshore power, with a total capacity of 3,500 MW.

“We’re looking for competition. The competition only helps the ratepayer,” said Fiordaliso.

The Ocean Wind project would deliver a first-year price for Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (ORECs) of $98.10 per megawatt-hour. BPU officials estimate the levelized net OREC, representing actual costs paid by ratepayers after energy and capacity revenues are refunded to ratepayers, at $46.46/MWh.

That will increase average ratepayer monthly bills by $1.46 for residential, $13.05 for commercial, and $110.10 for industrial customers, according to the BPU.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Who Should Build the Coming US Offshore Grid?

June 21, 2019 — New York and New Jersey policymakers have established some of the nation’s most ambitious offshore wind targets. New Jersey plans to deploy 3,500 megawatts (MW) offshore wind capacity by 2030; New York is aiming for 9,000 MW installed by 2035.

With the targets in place, attention is now turning to the question of how best to deliver power from multiple projects comprising hundreds of megawatts each to the onshore grid.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced this week it would publish a “Request for Competitive Interest” for the development of transmission infrastructure off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.

The move by BOEM is in response to an unsolicited application from Anbaric Development Partners for the right to build an offshore transmission system up to 185 nautical miles long in the area. Anbaric is a Boston-based transmission developer backed by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Read the full story at Green Tech Media

MAINE: Mills signs wind bill, announces plans to advance offshore energy

June 21, 2019 — Stalled efforts to test a floating wind farm off the Maine coast got back on track Wednesday after Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation directing the Public Utilities Commission to approve the contract for Maine Aqua Ventus, a first-of-its-kind wind project in the United States.

“With the innovative work being done at the University of Maine, our state has the potential to lead the world in floating offshore wind development,” Mills said. “This long-overdue bill will move us in that direction.”

Mills also announced two collaborative efforts to put the state back in the game for offshore wind energy research.

First, Maine has accepted an invitation from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to participate with New Hampshire and Massachusetts in a federally led Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Regional Task Force on offshore wind. The goal is to identify potential opportunities for renewable energy leasing and development on the outer continental shelf.

Mills also announced that she will create the Maine Offshore Wind Initiative. The state-based program will identify opportunities for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine and determine how Maine can best position itself to benefit from future offshore wind projects, including opportunities for job creation, supply chain and port development, and offshore wind’s impact on Maine’s energy future.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Offshore Wind Projects Growing Fast, Hitting Snags

June 18, 2019 — The demand for offshore wind continues, as the designated wind zones in waters south of Rhode Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket fill with projects.

At the June 11 meeting of the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), Grover Fugate, executive director, recounted the growing pains to accommodate as much as 22,000 megawatts of offshore wind.

“This industry has literally exploded overnight,” said Fugate, as he highlighted issues confronting several projects.

The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind facility, for instance, is deadlocked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the project’s environmental impact statement.

“That’s not something that’s been done before in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) world,” Fugate said. “So we’re not quite sure where that is going to end up.”

The Nantucket Historical Commission is seeking $16 million from the Vineyard Wind developer, according to Fugate. The island town has sought funds to compensate for adverse visual impacts the 84-turbines may have on tourism.

Read the full story at EcoRI

Feds delay Vineyard Wind assessment one month

June 18, 2019 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has delayed for one month the release of its final assessment of Vineyard Wind’s offshore wind farm plan. But the bureau still intends to meet an August deadline to decide yea or nay on the proposal, an agency spokesman said.

The bureau was to issue the final environmental impact statement on June 7 before following with a final decision on the plan — called a record of decision — on Aug. 16, according to the agency’s timeline in March.

Now the bureau says that it will issue the final impact statement in early July. It still plans to meet the Aug. 16 decision date.

The one-month delay gives the bureau more time to review and analyze public comments on the draft version of the report, Vineyard Wind spokesman Scott Farmelant said.

“That date works for the project’s schedule,” he said of Aug. 16 timetable.

Both the federal bureau and Vineyard Wind have tight schedules for the proposed 84-turbine offshore wind project, to be built 15 miles south of the Islands. The project could potentially be the first industrial-sized offshore wind farm in the country.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Congressman’s Visit Focuses on Offshore Wind Jobs

June 17, 2019 — A key member of Congress joined Rep. William Keating (D-Massachusetts) and Mayor Jon Mitchell Friday for a tour of New Bedford Harbor and a discussion on the city’s role in offshore wind development.

Congressman Alan Lowenthal of California chairs the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and is bullish on offshore wind. “This is the future of the nation’s energy supply. This is not some kind of a passing whim, this is where the nation is moving, and we need successful models and that’s what we’re doing here.”

Lowenthal’s committee is considering a bill filed by Keating to provide grants to colleges, universities and labor unions to train workers for the offshore wind industry.

While the bill is expected to make it easily through the House, it could be a tougher sell in the Senate.

Keating says he expects supporters may have to make some concessions, but the Massachusetts Democrat feels strongly that the bill will make it through the Senate and on to the President’s desk. “This is a fuel for new jobs and for business development and secondary investments too. People will see what’s happening in New Bedford and it will help in the expansion of offshore wind development across the country.”

Read the full story at WBSM

US looking to harness the ocean winds with British help

June 14, 2019 — As many American states are making the push to use more renewable energy sources, engineers in one of the country’s oldest states are looking “across the pond” for help from British scientists to harness the power of the wind.

When Joseph Massi enrolled at Bristol Community College, an hour’s drive south of Boston, Massachusetts, he chose to specialise in a brand new field of study – offshore wind power.

“It’s the new future. It’s where everything is going to be, the growth potential, especially in Massachusetts,” Mr Massi said.

The Massachusetts legislature is considering bills that would commit the state to 100% renewable energy within 25 years. To achieve this, the state will need lots more solar panels and wind turbines, and people like Mr Massi to manage, build or operate offshore turbines.

“Once it starts booming in the United States, that’s going to be where you’ll want to be,” Mr Massi said.

The federal government estimates that the coastal waters off of New Bedford, Massachusetts, are among the windiest in the nation.

But here’s some bad news. The US doesn’t know much about building wind turbines, out in the ocean at least.

Read the full story at BBC