As the sun set Sunday night at the Cove, tensions rose at what was another strong showing for opponents to offshore wind farms. About 100 people gathered on a cold, windy evening at the southern-most point of New Jersey to keep the light on the fight against offshore wind companies with a cairn lighting. But one man spoke our after U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, rallied the crowd against windmills, questioning everyone there if they truly believe whales are dying as a result off offshore wind site preparation work. Mark Heany, a city resident since 1995, was met with shouts of disapproval after he interrupted the lineup of speakers. A few people got in his face to argue. Four Cape May police officers, who were there to make sure things stayed peaceful, intervened as Heaney and others argued just inches apart. 9 Photos, >>click to read<< 10:23
Tag Archives: Ørsted
East End fishermen uneasy over wind farm South Fork Wind
Late last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul called South Fork Wind, which is projected to eliminate hundreds of millions of tons of carbon emissions annually, a “major milestone” in the state’s “nation-leading effort to generate reliable, renewable clean energy. “But at least one East End community remains staunchly opposed to wind farms: commercial fishermen — who say that the massive, 50-story turbines could irreparably damage the local marine ecosystem and displace them from areas they’ve fished for decades or even generations. more, >>click to read<< 08:12
Orsted, months after a $4 billion write-off on offshore wind, decides to cut jobs, halt dividends, and quit several markets
Orsted has struggled to keep its promising wind projects alive in recent times. High costs tied to Inflation, elevated interest rates, and supply crunches took a toll on Orsted as it wrote off $4 billion linked to two large New Jersey wind projects in October. At the time, the company described America as the “most painful part of its portfolio” that it would have to make that hard decision of de-risking from—a blow for President Joe Biden’s administration that had pinned great hopes to the country’s investment in green energy. more, >> click to read<< 12:13
Ørsted pulled out of NJ. What comes next for wind power at the Jersey Shore?
After Ørsted, Danish energy company, announced in October that it would pull out of the billion-dollar project to build wind turbines off the New Jersey coast, there was discussion about what would come next for clean energy development in the Garden State. Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state’s Board of Public Utilities would seek another wind energy company in early 2024 and engage in contracts in early 2025. Why did Ørsted drop its New Jersey projects? The company ended development of the Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects, which were supposed to be built off the coast of Atlantic City. Two other projects, one by Avangrid and another by SouthCoast, a joint venture of Shell and Ocean Winds North America, were also canceled earlier this year in Massachusetts, forcing the companies to pay penalties of $48 million and $60 million, respectively. >>click to read<<10:48
New Jersey reacts to Ørsted Ocean Wind cancellation shocker
The aftermath is still unfolding Wednesday afternoon — and causing a lot of questions, drama and uncertainty in the state. It all comes against the backdrop of next week’s legislative elections (with offshore wind a central campaign issue in many races), when all 120 seats are up for grabs.Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders all responded with strongly worded statements and reactions, which came ripping through email boxes and across social media accounts in the evening hours on Halloween, which you can read more about here. That continued Wednesday — especially from Republican lawmakers and leaders, who have long questioned the feasibility of offshore wind as well as its potential impacts, leaning into the issue heavily on the campaign trail. >>click to read<< 17:20
Developer cancels plans for 2 N.J. offshore wind farms. Outraged Murphy rips company
Danish company Ørsted announced Tuesday night it will “cease development” for what was slated to be New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, as well as plans for its second project. It’s a blow to Gov. Phil Murphy’s ambitious clean energy goals and a stunning development for environmentalists supporting the energy alternative, once thought to be operational at the Jersey Shore between 2025 and 2026. Murphy said in his statement that Ørsted’s decision to “abandon its commitments to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company’s credibility and competence.” “As recently as several weeks ago,” Murphy said, “the company made public statements regarding the viability and progress of the Ocean Wind 1 project.” >>click to read<< 07:08
Offshore Wind Is A Dangerous Pipe Dream Costing Taxpayers Billions
How many times have we heard that wind power, coupled with the sun’s energy, is going to save us from our fossil-fuel-burning ways? Maybe one day it will. But at no time soon will it happen. And by soon, we mean in most of our lifetimes. How can we say this? Look around at what’s happening with wind energy [emphasis, “California’s Central Coast residents work to stop — or at least slow down — offshore wind.”,,, “Orsted Threatens To Abandon U.S. Offshore Wind Projects.” Biden administration guarantees more support.,, “Electricity from wind isn’t cheap and it never will be.” The list above is no more than a start. There are many more stories we could have cited, and there are many more to come. Wind energy is unreliable, and its costs are not competitive at scale. Lots of links! >>click to read<< 18:22
Another legal challenge to NJ offshore wind farm project
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, commercial fishing and tourism interests and a conservation group joined Cape May County in accusing federal agencies of ignoring and violating laws designed to protect the environment and marine life. The dispute is the latest that threatens to delay the project, which also faces stiff financial challenges that have led officials from Ørsted, a Danish company, to consider pulling out of building the 98-turbine project. Ørsted’s Ocean Wind I, a 1,100-megawatt project about 15 miles offshore from Atlantic City, is entangled in assorted court battles. Orsted has sued Cape May County and Ocean City over delays in obtaining permits while the state faces challenges over its approval of the project from local groups. >>click to read<< 07:09
Against the wind
Visiting southern New Jersey this summer, I kept seeing yard signs that read “Stop the Windmills—Save Our Coast.” The posters were rallying opposition to the massive Ocean Wind 1 power project 15 miles off the Jersey shore near Atlantic City. That constellation of 853-foot-high wind turbines is supposed to start construction any day now, although delays and financial uncertainties have hampered the project. Ocean Wind 1 is planned to be one of more than two dozen huge wind projects off the East Coast from South Carolina to Maine. If it ever gets built. Which it won’t if the residents of South Jersey have anything to say about it. >>click to read<< 08:56
U.S. offshore wind plans are utterly collapsing
Offshore wind developer Ørsted has delayed its New Jersey Ocean Wind 1 project to 2026. Previously, the company had announced construction of the project would begin in October 2023. The delay was attributed to supply chain issues, higher interest rates, and a failure so far to garner enough tax credits from the federal government. For now, they are not walking away from all their U.S. projects but will reconsider long-term plans by the end of this year. Ørsted’s stock price has fallen 30% in 5 days. This is just the latest bad news for offshore win. >>click to read<<10:57
RI fishermen’s board resigns en masse over Biden admin-backed offshore wind farm: ‘Wholesale ocean destruction’
A plan backed by the Biden administration to OK a string of wind farms off Rhode Island has prompted every member of a fishing regulatory board in the state to resign. The entire Rhode Island Fisherman’s Advisory Board quit en masse Friday to protest the 84-turbine Sunrise Wind project after the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council approved the third offshore wind farm in two years off the Ocean State’s waters. The project falls under President Biden‘s executive order authorizing his Interior Department to double US offshore wind capacity by 2030. With the project’s approval, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is on track to finish reviews for 16 wind farms by 2025. But foes including the fishing board say the Sunrise plan ignores environmental regulations and anglers’ concerns Video, >>click to read<< 17:54
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
Offshore wind projects may be cancelled in NJ, according to report
Already facing a series of lawsuits and opposition from state and local officials, Danish wind power developer Orsted is reporting huge financial losses. Those losses, company officials warned, could reach $2.3 billion in the U.S and may force the cancellation of projects of the New Jersey coast. In a conference call with investors, Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told them, “If the walk-away scenario is the economical, rational decision for us, then this remains a real scenario for us.” Orsted is considering “walking away” from or cancelling projects in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maryland. >>click to read<< 08:48
Ørsted shares fall 25% after it reveals troubles in US business
Shares in the world’s largest offshore wind company tumbled by nearly a quarter on Wednesday, after it said it may have to write down the value of its US portfolio by nearly £2bn. Ørsted said it had been hit by a flurry of setbacks in its American business, triggering a rapid sell-off in its shares, listed in Copenhagen. In their haste to dump the stock, investors had cut the notional value of the business by nearly £7bn by the time the market closed on Wednesday. It pointed to significant problems in the supply chain that are likely to affect Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind, planned windfarms off the eastern seaboard of the US. >>click to read<< 13:32
Survey: Support for wind energy drops in New Jersey
Support for offshore wind development in New Jersey has dropped dramatically in recent years as projects near construction, according to polling released Monday. Just over half of residents, around 54 percent, approve of offshore wind farm construction, according to the Monmouth University survey, a decrease from 76 percent in 2019 and 84 percent in 2011. At least 60 whales have died on the East Coast since preparations for the first project near Atlantic City began in December, but multiple studies from federal and state agencies have not found evidence linking the deaths with wind farms. The wind turbine projects have been celebrated by the state government and the Biden administration as ways to encourage green energy production in well-developed areas. >>click to read<< 15:45
CT, RI wind farm gets federal decision on environmental plan
One of Connecticut’s first two wind farms reached a major milestone on Tuesday, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy issuing a “record of decision” in the environmental review process for Revolution Wind, a prerequisite clearing the way for construction in the coming weeks. Revolution Wind will be located 15 miles off Point Judith, R.I., with partners Orsted and Eversource planning to sell the electricity generated by wind turbines to Connecticut and Rhode Island. That construction activity includes crews conducting multiple test pits near along the Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, R.I., and at the substation where power from the wind farm will be brought ashore, and then converted for use on the regional electric grid. >click to read< 16:06
Murphy’s wind turbine project could be stopped by little ole Ocean City, N.J.
Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, you have to know Phil Murphy is as slick and slippery as they come. Rather than go through the Legislature for approval of his climate cult schemes, he does it through the regulatory process. This way you have no say in the matter. It just gets rammed through by way of the BPU or the DEP. They’re made up of unelected bureaucrats appointed by the governor. Back in March Murphy chose not to reappoint two people that might offer resistance to any of his climate cult nonsense, like getting rid of gas stoves, gasoline-powered cars or giant wind turbines off the Jersey Shore. >click to read< 14:53
Why offshore wind jobs may just be a lot of hot air
Offshore wind developers in the U.S. have promised to create thousands of “million-dollar” jobs. But those dollars won’t flow into New York workers’ paychecks. Rather, they’re just the sum total of the subsidies local taxpayers and utility ratepayers will expend to keep offshore wind afloat, as if New Yorkers’ electric bills aren’t high enough. Consider Ørsted, the Danish government-owned company that is developing the 12-turbine, 132-megawatt Southfork Wind and the 84-turbine, 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind projects, which will be built 30 miles east of Montauk Point, Long Island. Ørsted is also behind the 98-turbine, 1,100 megawatt Ocean Wind project along the southern New Jersey shore, which just rewarded it with several billion dollars in tax credits that were supposed to have been returned to New Jersey ratepayers According to Ørsted’s Southfork Construction and Operations Plan (COP), Southfork will require 166 construction workers each year during the two-year construction period and another 10 jobs each year for operation and maintenance over the project’s 25-year expected lifespan. >click to read< 09:35
Orsted hit with lawsuit over ‘$1bn unconstitutional giveaway’ for giant US offshore wind farm
Orsted’s gigascale Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind project is under threat from a lawsuit filed by opponents in the US state of New Jersey who claim the proposal has benefited from an “unconstitutional $1bn giveaway”. Legal counsel for opposition groups Protect Our Coast NJ and Defend Brigantine Beach said they filed the suit in the state’s Superior Court last week. Orsted’s gigascale Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind project is under threat from a lawsuit filed by opponents in the US state of New Jersey who claim the proposal has benefited from an “unconstitutional $1bn giveaway”. >click to read< 11:21
Offshore wind foes sue New Jersey and Danish turbine developer over tax break
The lawsuit was filed Thursday by two residents’ groups that are opposed to offshore wind projects and three electricity customers from Ocean City who seek to overturn the law. They say it gives Orsted about $1 billion in tax relief for one of the two windmill projects it plans to build off the state’s southern coast. The state Legislature passed a bill allowing Orsted to keep federal tax credits that it was obligated to pass along to ratepayers. In applying for permission to build the project, called Ocean Wind I, Orsted had promised to return such credits to customers. Bruce Afran, a lawyer representing two groups who brought the lawsuit – Protect Our Coast NJ and Defend Brigantine Beach – said the state is not permitted to enact laws that benefit only one party. >click to read< 09:55
Offshore Wind has a Cost Crisis
The horrific term “cost crisis” is not from me. It comes down from on high, in this case the mega-conference: US Offshore Wind 2023. But now they have a cost crisis. Could the bust be at hand? The evidence is piling up. So there are three converging factors. Higher material and equipment costs, higher interest rates and political resistance. For example it has not gone unnoticed that the House Republicans are trying to roll back the lush subsidies granted under the amusingly named Inflation Reduction Act. Local resistance is growing as well. The biggest developer offshore America is Ørsted and they are now suing New Jersey’s Cape May County and Atlantic City for withholding local permits needed to bring a big project’s power ashore. Anti-offshore wind demonstrations are becoming a common occurrence in coastal towns. >click to read< 08:02
The ‘very liberal’ doctor, the pro-GOP car dealer and the movement against offshore wind
This story is based on interviews with a dozen people who are organizing efforts to oppose offshore wind projects, as well as scientists and environmentalists. E&E News also reviewed tax documents, regulatory filings and emails obtained under New Jersey’s Freedom of Information Act. The wind opponents are gaining traction. Some Republicans in Congress have called for a moratorium on offshore wind projects. In New Jersey, where the debate has been particularly fierce, more than 40 mayors organized by a D.C. lobbyist called for a wind moratorium, and a recent poll found that more residents support halting wind projects (39 percent) than building them (35 percent). Wind detractors have packed public meetings in Rhode Island, and opponents have filed lawsuits in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey to halt projects. >click to read< 14:49
American boat patrols waters around new offshore wind farms to protect jobs
A battleship-gray vessel was on the prowl. In this ramp-up for U.S. offshore wind, American marine companies and mariners fear they’ll be left behind. So Aaron Smith, president of the Offshore Marine Service Association, was looking through binoculars to see whether ships servicing the new wind farms were using foreign-flagged vessels instead of U.S.-made ships with American crews. The ship is named the Jones Act Enforcer, after the century-old law that says the transport of merchandise between U.S. points is reserved for U.S.-built, owned and documented vessels. The motto: “We’ll be watching.” Smith was documenting operations to show to federal law enforcement officials and members of Congress. 15 Photos, >click to read< 10:02
Ocean City calls wind power plans ‘a crazy gamble’
With a wind power project proposed off the beach taking a big step forward this week, Mayor Jay Gillian on Thursday criticized the approval process and called offshore energy production “a crazy gamble.” City officials have expressed skepticism about the Ocean Wind 1 project since its proposal, but at the City Council meeting, Gillian went farther than usual, offering a blunt assessment of the project, describing the approval process as rushed and suggesting most of the benefits would flow to a foreign company. Gov. Phil Murphy and company representatives celebrated the approval Wednesday. But the reaction was far different in Ocean City. “Despite the thousands of pages of paper masquerading as a complete review of the project’s impact, we still have absolutely no idea what this will cost the state’s taxpayers and ratepayers, and what benefits we might see in return,” >click to read< 10:58
The dirty details of offshore wind’s ‘clean energy’
“In New Jersey, it’s go hard or go home,” Gov. Phil Murphy Tweeted after signing an executive order to up the state’s offshore wind goals by nearly 50% last September. Perhaps, the governor didn’t consider the fact that those in the state who question the perils and efficacy of offshore wind turbines are playing by the same saying. This “clean energy economy,” as conceived and fast-tracked by the Biden administration (and treated as the holy grail by Gov. Phil Murphy), has been shoved down the throats of those who live in shore communities, even though the risks to every aspect of marine life are poorly understood and little evidence exists that wind energy will make a noteworthy impact on climate change. By Linda Bonvie, >click to read< 09:53
Corporate Welfare: Lawmakers pass controversial bill to give tax break to offshore wind developer
Lawmakers narrowly advanced fast-tracked legislation Friday that would give a Danish company a multimillion-dollar tax break for its offshore wind project, despite objections from Republicans who slammed it as “corporate welfare.” The bill would allow Ørsted, the company approved to build a 1,100-megawatt project 15 miles off the Atlantic City coastline, to keep federal tax credits that otherwise would return to ratepayers. The value of the credit would be $2.40 per year per ratepayer, by Ørsted’s estimate, but the company’s total potential savings is unclear. Critics questioned why legislators should give “a corporate bailout to a foreign company on the backs of New Jersey ratepayers,” as Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn (R-Monmouth) put it. >click to read< 09:25
Offshore Windfarms Threaten to Pull Out of Uneconomical Contracts
A string of offshore wind projects meant to power Britain are in jeopardy after the global race to net zero sent costs soaring, casting doubt over the industry’s future as a cheap source of energy. A surge in supply chain costs has pushed up the price of wind turbines, while increases in global interest rates have raised refinancing costs substantially. It has made several projects unviable just a year after they won government subsidy contracts – leading to fears from industry insiders that Britain’s future is in jeopardy as the “Saudi Arabia of wind”. Schemes developed by Danish company Ørsted and Swedish player Vattenfall are among other projects understood to be at risk, as the industry seeks more government help to ensure projects remain viable. >click to read< 09:30
Offshore wind foes in New Jersey gathering force legally and politically
Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry. Within the last week, three residents groups sued New Jersey over a key approval of its first planned wind farm; the research arm of Congress agreed to investigate the impact of offshore wind on the environment and other areas; and lawmakers in two counties most heavily impacted by wind farms stepped up their efforts to block the projects. Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ filed an appeal Friday in state Superior Court of New Jersey’s determination that the Ocean Wind I project is consistent with state coastal management rules. >click to read and comment< 08:55
Not So Fast, Orsted
Three groups have filed suit in Superior Court challenging New Jersey DEP’s approval of the Ocean Wind 1 project consisting of nearly 100 turbines to be located 15 miles off New Jersey’s busiest beach communities. In papers filed in New Jersey’s Appellate Division, Save LBI, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ said that the turbines, at least 906 feet in height (with their blades, nearly as tall as the Empire State Building), will be fully visible from New Jersey’s beaches and will crush and destroy the seabed, each tower weighing up to five million pounds. >click to read< 07:59
Reader Commentary: NOAA cares about whales — until wind farms are involved
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