Tag Archives: Ørsted
New Jersey: Legislators Propose Bill To Limit Local Say Over Offshore Wind Farm Projects
The bill comes at a time when Ørsted’s proposed offshore wind project has been gaining opposition from several coastal communities concerned about the cables running underneath New Jersey beaches, including Ocean City and Long Beach Island. Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a southern New Jersey Democrat who sponsored the bill,,, “I can assure you, having been at ground zero of these discussions, we will allow nothing to happen that will disrupt Ocean City and the true gem that it is,” Burzichelli said at the state Assembly hearing during which the bill was advanced. >click to read< 08:45
RI Coastal Resources Management Council backs South Fork Offshore Wind Farm, fishermen object
The vote by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council in favor of the wind farm was made over the objections of fishermen, who argued that a mitigation package agreed to with developers Ørsted and Eversource would fall well short of adequately compensating them for losses caused by the installation and operation of the project’s 12 turbines. Certification that the wind farm is consistent with state coastal policies also came despite concerns raised by Save The Bay and others about the council’s permitting process for the wind farm, which would be built in an area called Cox Ledge in Rhode Island Sound that is home to a rich diversity of fish, including species of tuna and Atlantic cod. >click to read< 16:29
With the Ocean Wind Offshore Wind Farm on the horizon, a storm is building
Ocean Wind, according to those closely following the project, is headed for a series of turf wars, loud debates and protracted legal battles, even before the first turbine is sited off the coast of southern New Jersey.,, even supporters and opponents of the proposed wind farm at times disagree among themselves on how to move forward. Environmentalists, commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, labor unions, homeowners, boardwalk businesses, NIMBYs and ratepayer advocates are all circling Orsted, the Dutch wind power company behind what could be one of the largest wind farms in North America. Local, state and federal officials are also starting to feel the heat. Just about everyone involved, including David Hardy, CEO of Orsted US, worries the project could devolve into chaos. >click to read< 13:11
Silence from Shoreline Press on Undersea Electric Problems – We’re not talking what you can see, it’s what you can’t
All the exciting press about the installation of windfarms focuses on the seemingly blithe turbine blades swirling innocently in the free breeze,,, the mantra offered by Baker, Raimondo, Lamonte and Cuomo. The necessary undersea electric cables that connect the swan like turbines to the shore are viewed by the wind industry itself as their Achilles Heel. It has already shown its ugly face in the functioning of the five turbines off Block Island. This has placed an unexpected $80 million repair bill (just five turbines, mind you, and less that 18 miles of cable) on the rate payers. Orsted, which has 
bought the Rhode Island wind company, has publicly said “we do not discuss our financial matters.” The repair will take two years, and a large swath of ocean is closed to commercial fishing—blues, sword, squid, lobster, clams, flounder, haddock. No fishing! Trawl gear hauled along the bottom will catch on that now exposed cable and strum it like a banjo string. Twang! Snap!! >click to read< 16:54
Fishermen accuse wind farm giant of bullying in compensation row
North Norfolk fishermen say they are fearful for their future, after Ørsted, the Danish energy giant behind Hornsea Project Three took out a High Court injunction to prevent them from temporarily fishing in certain areas while it carried out surveys. The energy giant says it has always aimed to “work collaboratively with fishermen” held numerous discussions with the fishing community and legal action was a “last resort.” ,,, John Davies, chairman of the NNFS, who had been involved in talks with Ørsted on behalf of the society said: “We’re just pushed and sidelined out the way by the big multinational company. >click to read< 09:10
Euro invasion! “Ørsted is ready to mobilize.” – Town Trustees urge Ørsted to get fisheries studies underway immediately
Members of the East Hampton Town Trustees this week said that South Fork Wind Farm developer Ørsted needs to get fish population surveys started immediately, even though the actual proposal will not be finalized until later this spring, so as to be able to capture the full two seasons worth of data demanded by a fisheries study mandated in state approvals for the project. As one of the agreed-to conditions,,, Trustee John Aldred said that he and the Trustees attorneys, blah blah blah, blah blah blah,,, “I don’t want to be a defender of Ørsted, but,,, lol! >click to read< 13:11
I liked Mayor Passero’s State Pier comments before he signed a gag order
I am sorry to say that not only did New London Mayor Michael Passero sell out the other victims of Gov. Ned Lamont’s $200 million remake of State Pier from road salt contractors and longshoremen to local fishermen when he signed a deal with the rich utilities that will profit from the project. But he settled cheaply. We all know that Eversource has legions of Connecticut politicians in its back pocket. I assume the utilities have prepared a T-shirt for Mayor Passero, with a big “E” for Eversource on the front and an “O” for Orsted on the back, and he might be expected to wear it whenever they call a news conference, jerk on his leash and demand a performance, as they are enabled to do by the host community agreement. >click to read< 09:53
Biden administration gives boost to offshore wind. Orstead fails to renew fisheries representative contract
The Biden administration’s announcement this week of a plan to resume an environmental review of a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast and accelerate green-energy development was welcomed by developers and proponents of projects for Long Island. Biden on Jan. 27 signed an executive order,,, Orsted officials declined to comment on the decision by the company not to renew the contract of Julie Evans, a Montauk fishing boat captain who had been a fisheries representative to the company for local fishing issues. She had worked with fishermen in 2020 on fishing-gear loss cases tied to Orsted survey work. One fishermen, Vinny Damm of Montauk, had his claim rejected. Orsted declined to comment on the matter. >click to read< 11:16
Progress expected for Rhode Island’s offshore wind farm plan
Much was made of the Raimondo administration’s selection in 2018 of a proposal for a massive offshore wind farm off the Rhode Island coast that would power as much as a quarter of the state’s electric load. But a Biden presidency is expected to boost renewables overall, and a decision could come in a matter of weeks for the benchmark Vineyard Wind project,,, A favorable ruling on the proposal could break the logjam for Revolution Wind. Orsted and Eversource are gearing up,,, >click to read< 09:21
Charter Signed for First-ever U.S.-flagged Jones Act Compliant SOV
Offshore vessel operator Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) will build and operate the first-ever U.S. flagged Jones Act compliant Service Operations Vessel (SOV), used for offshore wind farm operation and maintenance works. Edison Chouest Offshore, Ørsted, and Eversource announced Thursday the execution of a long-term charter agreement for the provision of the SOV. “The SOV will be engineered, constructed and operated by ECO as an integral part of the operation and maintenance of the Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms in the northeast United States, which are dependent on obtaining the necessary federal permits from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM),” the companies said in a statement. >click to read< 09:27
Dominion debuts first offshore wind farm in U.S. federal waters
Gov. Ralph Northam joined state and local officials, industry representatives and stakeholders Monday for a boat excursion 27 miles off the coast to take an up-close look at the massive turbines. Before embarking on the tour, Northam signed landmark offshore wind legislation during a ceremony in front of the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach. He said the legislation will continue to position Virginia as a national leader in offshore wind development as the state builds a new industry with thousands of clean energy jobs. >click to read< 12:09
Key Word -“displaced”: New London wants state to fund new pier for displaced fishermen.
The city is calling on the Connecticut Port Authority to help establish a new home for two commercial fishing businesses being displaced from State Pier. The city says it’s found a spot on its waterfront for a new pier but doesn’t have the money to fund a project. Mayor Michael Passero is calling on the port authority to provide the funding. The fishermen — Montville-based Donna May Fisheries and Waterford-based Out of Our Shell Enterprises — are among the tenants of State Pier being displaced by a $157 million project to redevelop it into a staging and assembly hub for the offshore wind industry. The redevelopment project is a partnership between the Connecticut Port Authority, Ørsted and Eversource. >click to read< 07:56
European Offshore Wind Takes Shape at Providence Innovation Hub
A new glass-and-steel office space is less about the number jobs or the company that will occupy it and more about the industry taking root there. Seven co-working desks at the Wexford Innovation Center on Dyer Street in the Jewelry District will soon be used by Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind. (wonder if Bob gets a desk, too?!) The Danish company is joining seven other wind-related companies already there. And judging by the 200 or so attendees at the March 2 office opening, a nascent industry is on the verge of rapid growth. “This is a brand-new industry and it’s being born right here in the state of Rhode Island. It’s unbelievable,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said. more >click to read< 10:10
Offshore Wind Farm: Clean, Green…Profitable?
In most lifetimes, there are only a few chances to participate in the birth of an industry,,, Ohleth is the senior manager for stakeholder engagement of Orsted, the Danish energy firm that has the contract to build Ocean Wind,,, According to Ohleth, big opportunities are on the way. Not everyone was as sanguine about the proposal. Jeff Kaelin, of Lunds Fisheries, presented a slide that showed the overlap of the project area for Ocean Wind with the path of fishing boats in the region. “The clam guys fish inside of there,” Kaelin stated that the fishing industry would face a disproportionate impact from the wind energy proposal. He described commercial fishing as a $6-billion industry that employs about 30,000 people in a half-dozen different ports, including the Lunds facility, near the Middle Thorofare Bridge, just in from Cape May Inlet. >click to read< 17:27
Orsted and Eversource Wind Farm Plan Is Paused. What about those jobs promised by the mult-national wind farmers?!!
Orsted, the Danish energy company that acquired Deepwater Wind of Providence, R.I., in 2018 and then joined with the Connecticut energy company Eversource on the South Fork Wind Farm and other offshore wind projects, has set a timeline that would have the wind farm operational by December 2022. The federal government’s pause on it and on Vineyard Wind, a proposed wind farm jointly under development by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, have put their respective timelines in doubt. Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, Mass., issued a statement last week in which Lars Pedersen, its chief executive officer, said that its 2022 target date for completion “is no longer expected.” >click to read< 09:48
Scots offshore wind farm revolution has created just 6% of jobs forecast by ministers – At the time of the 2010 strategy, it was said that Scotland had the natural resources to become the “green energy powerhouse of Europe” and said: “It is critical that Scotland exploits the opportunities being made available by the offshore wind industry.” Sound like the crap todays carnival barking politicians are spewing today! >click to read< 09:50
Ørsted Forms Research Partnerships to Advance Technology for Protection and Conservation of Right Whales
The company plans to apply the project’s learnings to develop tailored processes and procedures to better protect the North Atlantic right whale during survey, construction and operation phases of their U.S. offshore wind farm portfolio. The ECO-PAM project will ensure the company can act to solve the global climate crisis, while preserving local ecosystems. >click to read< 13:00
Dirty Wind. When public business is done behind closed doors
That’s exactly what was going on last winter, when the Connecticut Port Authority, we now know, was hatching a grand plan, in secret, to drastically remake the historic port of New London, filling in seven acres of the river between the two existing piers, one a stone 19th Century structure on the National Register of Historic Places. The extensive $93 million project, to be done at the behest of Danish wind power giant Orsted and Connecticut utility Eversource, with the state contributing $35 million, would potentially close the port to traditional cargo for the better part of a generation. >click to read< 11:56
A rundown on the proposed offshore Skipjack Wind Farm
When it comes to discussions of the proposed offshore Skipjack Wind Farm and the related proposals to bring cables carrying the wind-generated power ashore at the Fenwick Island State Park, there seem to be two — maybe three — schools of thought, generally. Officials from the company that wants to build the turbines says they will be barely visible from the coast; opponents say otherwise. Those who favor the projects,, Those who are against it often cite,, And then there are those who simply feel they need more information in order to make an informed comment or decision. >click to read< 14:00
Offshore Wind Awaits Federal Environmental Reports
The latest industry initiative is the expansion of a cable factory in Charleston, S.C., where Paris-based Nexans plans to make some 620 miles of high-voltage power lines for the five wind projects under development by the utility Eversource and Danish energy company Ørsted. The companies declined to say how the five-year contract was granted. Nexans is also building a new cable-laying vessel with a 10,000-ton capacity.,,, The report was quickly criticized by representatives from the squid and scallop industry who said the 1-mile spacing between the turbines doesn’t improve safety and the layout restricts fishing. “This is the biggest screwup to hit our oceans ever,” said Dellinger, who is chairman of the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Advisory Board. >click to read< 16:58
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
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
Underproduction? Offshore wind gets a warning from its biggest developer. Orsted
The world’s biggest developer of offshore wind farms issued a reality check to the industry, saying it has overestimated the amount of time its turbines are generating electricity. Copenhagen-based Orsted A/S announced that offshore wind farms wouldn’t produce quite as much power as previously forecast. The adjustment could shave millions of dollars of revenue a year off each project. It’s also a warning to other developers who may have used similar analysis to estimate the economics of their projects. >click to read< 16:44
Stonington fishermen say windfarm developer not responding to their concerns
Joe Gilbert, who has a fleet of four commercial boats based at the Stonington Town Dock, said he met with John O’Keefe, head of marine operations for Ørsted, in March to discuss the “vast” concerns that he and other fishermen have ranging from potential environmental impacts to spacing in between turbines. The meeting, which lasted several hours, was productive with O’Keefe taking copious notes, Gilbert said. “I thought it was the beginning of an open dialogue between the wind developer and the fishermen,”,, Gilbert said he never heard back from O’Keefe about how Ørsted plans to address the issues, even after following up multiple times with him and other company officials. Eventually, he and a group of Stonington fishermen were offered a meeting,,, >click to read< 21:05
East Hampton Candidates Debate Future
The candidates fielded questions on issues ranging from offshore wind and energy sustainability to coastal retreat due to climate change,,, On how the proposed South Fork Wind Farm will affect local fishermen, Mr. Gruber said the Danish firm Orsted, which now owns Deepwater Wind, the original company that got leases and power purchase agreements for the project, knows from its experience in Europe the importance of not locating wind farms in fishing grounds. “If there is displacement [of fishermen] it is compensated as a matter of law,” said Mr. Gruber, adding that the proposed wind farm, is on Cox’s Ledge, “one of the most fertile fishing grounds in the northeast.” >click to read< 11:42
An Inlet Seafood owner says lease is not a ‘partnership,’ – Orsted Wind Plans Montauk Operations Site
“We are pleased to be locating an operations and maintenance facility in Montauk to service our South Fork Wind Farm and bring additional jobs to the area,” Thomas Brostrom, chief executive officer of Orsted,,, In the same announcement, Bill Grimm, an owner of Inlet Seafood, is quoted saying that the agreement between Inlet Seafood and the developers outlined how fishermen and offshore wind developers “can work at the dock alongside each other.” Yesterday, however, Mr. Grimm denied that he had made that statement, which has been reported elsewhere. >click to read< 16:21
Wind farm developers reach agreement with Montauk dock owners
Developers Orsted and Eversource last week announced the agreement with Inlet Seafood on East Lake Drive in Montauk, an operation that’s partly owned by Dave Aripotch, one of the region’s most active commercial fishermen who has consistently criticized the offshore wind-energy projects as “wind-scams.”,,, “I’m not happy with it, but I’m not going to stop my partners from doing it,” said Aripotch, who is married to Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, who also has opposed offshore wind. >click to read< 20:29
Orsted To Partner With Commercial Fishing Dock In Montauk For On-Shore Operations Base
According to Orsted, the company will lease a portion of the Inlet Seafood property for its on-shore operations and maintenance facility and will dock the boats there that will be used to shuttle maintenance crews to and from the wind farm. Inlet Seafood is owned by a cooperative of six commercial fishermen. The group owns 6 acres of land on the eastern side of the mouth of the inlet into Montauk Harbor. Commercial fishermen have been the main opposition to the South Fork Wind Farm and to large-scale offshore wind development in general, but the agreement with some of the industry’s most prominent captains in Montauk would appear to have won at least some good will. >click to read< 22:28
New Jersey Fishermen Demand a Say in Decisions on Offshore Wind Farms
Fishermen insisted Monday to a congressional subcommittee looking at offshore wind energy that they be consulted,,, Fishermen should have been brought into the planning process from the start, Peter Hughes, of Atlantic Cape Fisheries, told U.S. House members from New Jersey and California who were holding a hearing at the Jersey Shore. “Look at these slides,” he said, referring to diagrams of where proposed wind projects would be built. “They’re right smack dab where we are fishing. This is going to put people out of business.” >click to read< 14:26
Federal subcommittee hearing opens lines of communication between offshore energy company and fishers – Photo’s >click to read< 19:28
State officials to field questions on offshore wind at meetings on LI
The state and wind-farm developers are expected to face questions about cost, views and impacts on fishing and birds at three open-house informational meetings,,,, “I’m petrified of them,” said Mark Phillips, one of the most experienced commercial fishermen on Long Island and one of the last operating out of Greenport. His chief concern, he said, is the turbines’ potential impact on the region’s vital squid fishery.,,, “The potential to lose the whole inshore squid fishery is real to me,” he said. >click to read< 17:02
Its Deadline for Comments Day on South Fork Wind Farm Environmental Report
BOEM, which recently finished its draft environmental review of the South Fork Wind Farm, gave the public a chance to weigh in on the document at three virtual public hearings in mid-February, and is accepting further written public comment through midnight tonight… Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze Ltd. in Narragansett, Rhode Island, “Our vessels will have to fish in the area, which will be impossible if this goes through as planned,” she said, adding that the DEIS “does not contain any cumulative impact analysis” of how the offshore wind industry will affect the fishing industry. Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, based in Montauk, agreed with Ms. Lapp, adding,,, >click to read< 12:05
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