Tag Archives: Equinor

‘We cannot fish in a wind farm’: Local fishermen file lawsuit over offshore wind project

Many people in Morro Bay have mixed feelings about a planned offshore wind project. Now, a lawsuit has been filed. The Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization and the Port San Luis Commercial Fisherman’s Association claim some rules and regulations related to the project have not been followed. The Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization was incorporated in 1972 and has around 100 members. “We’ve been here for a while and we’ve got an incredibly good reputation in all of those years, and we are very proud of it,” said Jeremiah O’Brien, Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization Vice President. more, >>click to read<< 06:52

Equinor Names California Floating Wind Project

Equinor has announced the name of its floating offshore wind project off the coast of California, Atlas Wind. The lease area, which lies 60 miles from Morro Bay, has the capacity to provide over 2GW of reliable, renewable power, enough to power 1.7 million California homes once complete. California is poised to become a growing force in the US energy transition with a nation-leading target of 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2045.  Approximately two-thirds of the United States’ offshore wind energy potential lies in deep coastal waters, like the Pacific Ocean, where water depths reach 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) or more. more, >>click to read<< 11:36

Proposals could increase wind energy costs 27% to 66%, NYSERDA report says  

A report by the state agency leading New York’s transition into a carbon-free energy grid says requests by wind farm developers to sharply increase what they can charge for the power could potentially be 27% to 66% higher than originally proposed. Wind farm companies requesting the increases previously filed documents with the state that excluded from public release most of the now-released financial information. “The economic impact is far too great,” Michelle Leo, a member of Protect Our Coast Long Island, an opposition group in Long Beach, said in an email in response to the release. “Off-shore wind is clearly too expensive because of the return to the investors …” Equinor is lying to the ratepayers that have crappy political representation. >>click to read<< 12:59

Long Beach council tells Hochul it is ‘fervently opposed’ to wind project

The City of Long Beach is “fervently opposed” to the Empire Wind 2 project that proposes a high-voltage power line through its streets and turbines visible from shore, city officials said in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul this week. The Monday letter, signed by all five city council members, including president John Bendo, outlined four primary reasons the city stands in “firm opposition” to the project, which Norway-based Equinor proposes to have in service before the end of the decade. Equinor, in a statement, said it was “disappointed” by the letter,,, A spokesman for Hochul’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. John McNally, a spokesman for the city, said the council was “resolute” in its opposition to the project, and that the letter “speaks for itself.” >click to read< 09:29

Equinor to trial safe fishing with floating offshore wind farm at Hywind Scotland. No Dragging, though.

Hywind Scotland’s operator Equinor and Scottish government agency Marine Scotland will work together to better understand how fishers can safely operate around and within floating offshore wind farms. In a survey scheduled for 2022, Marine Scotland will test three kinds of fishing gear: creels, fish traps and jigging lines at Hywind Scotland.,, California dreaming – Elsewhere in floating offshore wind, BOEM has decided to determine industry interest in developing offshore wind at two sites in a 1,033km2 area off central California,,, >click to read< 22:05

Energy giant to hold forum with fishermen over cross-Sound cable route on Wednesday

#OpposeOceanIndustrialization: Floating structure design for offshore solar plant

Norwegian independent research organization Sintef has been tasked by Norwegian energy giant Equinor, and Vollsveien-based engineering specialist Moss Maritime, a unit of Italian gas contractor Saipem, with testing a model of a prototype of an offshore floating solar plant that Equinor and Saipem want to bring to offshore waters.,,“If we succeed here, we can succeed anywhere,” said, in January, Hanne Wigum, the head of Equinor’s solar and wind tech unit.  >click to read< 12:14

Testing Concepts for Floating Offshore Solar Panels

A unique test is getting underway exploring the potential of floating offshore solar panels as the latest contributor in the search for new renewable energy sources.  Norwegian energy company Equinor, which has already expanded into offshore wind, is collaborating with a developmental energy company, Moss Maritime, to test the solar technology including in the harsh Norwegian environment. “We have been working on this concept for the past three years, most recently through our partnership with Equinor,” >click to read< 13:01

New York Selects Equinor for Largest US Offshore Wind Award

“Together, Equinor and the State of New York will create a robust offshore wind supply chain capable of manufacturing, assembling, and staging these projects at scale. As Equinor works to expand its renewable energy presence across the United States and the globe, New York’s leadership clearly illustrates the transformative benefits of offshore wind on climate goals and economic activity alike,” says Siri Espedal Kindem, President of Equinor Wind U.S.,,, “Governor Cuomo has taken the necessary actions to position New York as a national hub for the U.S. offshore wind industry, >click to read<09:34

Scores more wind turbines proposed for Long Island’s South Shore

Scores more 600-foot tall wind turbines would be built off Jones Beach under a new proposal. Norwegian energy conglomerate Equinor has bid to create another 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind power for New York state and Long Island with two projects. One, which would connect to the local electric grid in Nassau County, would more than double the number of turbines off Long Island to some 200. A second would be built around 50 miles from Montauk Point and connect to the state grid in Queens. The plan would also include conducting assembly work in Brooklyn. >click to read<  10:42

BP, Equinor Partner to Develop Offshore Wind Farms off New York, and Massachusetts

Two of Europe’s largest oil companies will develop offshore wind projects jointly in the U.S. in yet another example of energy giants migrating towards the development of renewables. Equinor of Norway, and has entered into an agreement to sell a 50% stake in two of its U.S offshore wind farm projects to Britain based BP for $1.1 Billion. Empire Wind, located just southeast of the Long Island coast, spans 80,000 acres, with water depths of between 65 and 131 feet. Beacon Wind is located 20 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and covers 128,000 acres. >click to read< 15:40

Bob Guzzo Talks Quotas, Offshore Wind, Coronavirus, and Fishing out of Stonington, Connecticut

“We’re giving up traditional fishing grounds that we’ve had for hundreds of years, that have fed the country, that are now going to light a light bulb and it’s not going to be worthwhile,” Guzzo said of the proposed wind farms located in federal waters. The location of the wind farms also destroys longtime fisheries, said Guzzo. “They’re taking away places that we’ve fished for this country over hundreds of years and we’re losing that ground,” he said.,, Quotas and Coronavirus, “I got tired of throwing fish overboard, I could never stand it. I started too long ago and never had to do this. The way they make you fish today is a crime,” >click to read< 08:01

Floating Offshore Wind Farm to Power Offshore Oil Platforms Gains Approval

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Industry has approved the plans for development and operation of the Hywind Tampen wind farm which will mean the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms will be the first platforms in the world to receive power from a floating offshore wind farm. The wind farm will consist of 11 wind turbines based on the Hywind wind farm concept developed by Equinor. The 8MW turbines will have a total capacity of 88MW and meet about 35 percent of the annual power demand of the five platforms Snorre A and B and Gullfaks A, B and C. The wind farm will be located around 140 kilometers from shore, between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms, at a water depth of 260 to 300 meters. >click to read< 10:45

Saipem, Equinor collaborate on floating solar panel park solution for coastal applications and rough weather conditions

According to a statement by Saipem, the technology will be based on the in-house developed concept by offshore rig designer Moss Maritime, part of Saipem’s XSIGHT division dedicated to high value-added services, which is a modularized system, designed for easy fabrication, transportation, and installation at the operation site. >click to read< 12:42

Radar interference ‘hype,’ Furuno sees no issue with offshore wind turbines and marine radar.

Furuno, a global leader in marine radar systems, does not consider offshore wind turbines an interference threat to maritime radar navigation, according to its U.S. and European representatives. Furuno radar domes are a common sight atop Massachusetts motor yachts and commercial fishing vessels.,, Capt. Dave Aripotch, a trawler captain out of Montauk, Long Island, shared a photograph he and his wife, Bonnie Brady, head of Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said shows a marine radar screen taken in the vicinity of the Block Island Wind Farm that allegedly depicts interference or scattering. >click to read< 12:29

Joe Gilbert: Wind turbine spacing plan inadequate for fishing safety

From the perspective of Connecticut’s commercial fishermen who provide over $53 million to our state’s economy, nearly 1,000 jobs and food on the table of countless consumers, I wanted to respond to the Nov. 19 Day article, “New England Wind Turbine Plan Proposed to Allay Concerns.,,, “This uniform layout is consistent with the requests of the region’s fisheries industry and other maritime users,”,,, It is unclear to me and other fishermen what industry requests these developers are responding to. >click to read< 11:10

This Blows! Fishing industry raps proposed wind energy grid

“The proposed layout specifies that turbines will be spaced 1 nautical mile (nm) apart, arranged in east-west rows and north-south columns, with the rows and columns continuous across all New England lease areas.” But the claim that the newly proposed layout would satisfy the requests of the fishing industry did not entirely hold up once the developers’ plan was released publicly Tuesday morning. An organization that advocates on behalf of the scallop industry said its members were not consulted,,, >click to read< 19:41

N.E. Offshore Wind Leaseholders Submit Uniform Layout Proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard

The five New England offshore wind leaseholders – Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Ørsted/Eversource, and Vineyard Wind- announced a uniform turbine layout proposal submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard with 1 nautical mile (nm) spacing between wind turbines. The companies issued the following joint statement: “In response to feedback from key stakeholders, we have proposed to adopt a uniform turbine layout across our adjacent New England lease areas. >click to read< Please >click here< for the report prepared by W.F. Baird & Associates Ltd. and an accompanying letter from the five New England offshore wind leaseholders. 07:49

Newfoundland: Equinor, Exxon given environmental go-ahead for exploratory drilling offshore

Equinor and ExxonMobil have been given the green light from Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency to drill exploratory oil wells in the Flemish Pass and Jeanne d’Arc basins in the province’s offshore. Neither of the oil giants’ proposed drilling projects are “likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects when mitigation measures are taken into account,” according to a release sent by the federal agency on Wednesday afternoon. >click to read< 19:02

New Jersey: Offshore-wind developers and officials won’t reveal key details of proposals

There’s a lot at stake for utility customers who may end up subsidizing projects to the tune of billions of dollars. Three developers are vying to build offshore-wind farms aimed at achieving the Murphy administration’s goal of building 1,100 megawatts of capacity off the Jersey coast in a process that is emerging as increasingly opaque. Details of the projects, to be subsidized by potentially billions of dollars from electric customers in New Jersey, were not forthcoming from either the state Board of Public Utilities nor the developers.  The lack of transparency about the offshore-wind projects is not a new development. >click to read< 14:22

Oil drilling bid for Great Australian Bight not a boring debate for Port Lincoln locals

Plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight off the coast of South Australia have sparked a lively debate in the seaside town of Port Lincoln. In a city that calls itself the seafood capital of Australia, the discussion centres on the future of its greatest asset — The Great Australian Bight. Norwegian oil company, Equinor, plans to drill for oil in the seas that support Port Lincoln’s most important industry.,, Norwegian Fisherman’s Association representative, Bjornar Nicolaisen, also addressed the meeting, on behalf of an ongoing campaign in Norway to protect fisheries from drilling. Overwhelmingly speakers spoke against Equinor’s plans — just three people on the evening put forward cases for the plans. >click to read<09:57