Tag Archives: Vineyard Wind Project
Nantucket’s Big, Beautiful Blunder
It’s always been about the optics. The optics of the Nantucket Select Board signing the original Good Neighbor Agreement in August of 2020. The optics of the damaged GE Vernova Halide-X blade dangling perilously above the ocean from Vineyard Wind’s turbine in July of 2024. The optics of Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller, and later, State Senator Julian Cyr, sheepishly walking out of a Select Board meeting. The optics of the “non-toxic” debris washing up on our south shore beaches. And now, the optics of a $10.5 million settlement paving the way for the establishment of a “Community Claims Fund” to help compensate those negatively impacted economically by the blade failure disaster. The net effect after attorneys’ fees is roughly $8.7 million headed to Nantucket and local businesses. That’s nothing to sneeze at, and with an independent third party hired to review claims and dole out the checks, I feel confident the money won’t end up in Nantucket’s black hole for a new dump, but instead, in the pockets of island business owners such as Gaven Norton and ACK Surf School who deserve it. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:54
GE Vernova to Pay Nantucket $10.5M for Offshore Wind Turbine Blade Failure
Nantucket’s city government has reached a $10.5 million definitive settlement agreement with GE Vernova, the manufacturer of the offshore wind turbine blade that failed in 2024 and littered the coastline with debris. The Town of Nantucket commended GE Vernova for its leadership in reaching the agreement, while it was noted by observers that the developer of the Vineyard Wind farm is not a direct party to the settlement. A portion of the settlement money will be placed in a third-party administered Community Claims Fund to provide compensation for claims of economic harm made by residents and local businesses. The administrator will accept claims for the next six months but will require proof of the expenses or losses. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:39
Vineyard Wind Blade Break Reverberates One Year Later
One year ago Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard got a report it had never received before. At 7:01 p.m., about 20 miles off the Vineyard’s southern shore, large pieces of debris were scattered in the water near the Vineyard Wind wind farm. Green and white bits of fiberglass and foam, some the size of kitchen tables, were floating in the water, and eventually, with the help of wind and tides, would make their way onto Nantucket beaches. Nantucket charter fishing Capt. Carl Bois was one of the first people to see the bobbing detritus off the outer continental shelf when he was out on his boat the next day. Not long after, Vineyarders, Nantucketer’s, state lawmakers and some of the highest-ranking officials in Washington, D.C. learned all too well what Mr. Bois was seeing: pieces of a broken Vineyard Wind turbine blade. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:46
Fishing industry sues over offshore wind farm, says the DOI didn’t properly permit Vineyard Wind
When one turbine on the Vineyard Wind project near Marthas Vineyard began supplying electricity to the grid in January 2024, the project stood as the first step in the Biden administration’s plan to develop 30 gigawatts of offshore wind along America’s coastline by 2030. Since then, the project experienced a blade failure that dumped a football-field sized blade into the ocean and littered the beaches of Nantucket with sharp and toxic debris. Nantucket-based activists ACK 4 Whales sued over the permitting of the project, arguing that the Department of Interior (DOI) wasn’t factoring cumulative impacts into its environmental assessment of the project. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
‘Revolving Door’: Biden’s Ocean Energy Chief Went to Work for Major Offshore Wind Company After Admin Boosted Industry
Amanda Lefton, the former director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), went to work for a major offshore wind company after the agency boosted the industry and worked to limit offshore fossil fuel development on her watch. Lefton spearheaded the Biden administration’s effort to build out 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity along America’s coasts by 2030 in her capacity as the leader of BOEM, playing a key role in the administration’s all-of-government offshore wind push from February 2021 to February 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile. She then went to work on green energy-related issues for Foley Hoag LLC, a major D.C. law firm, for approximately six months and then joined RWE, a major player in the offshore wind space, as the head of development for the east coast in July 2023. This is hardly surprising given the incestuous relations between the Biden BOEM and the wind industry. On Ms. Lefton’s watch the agency helped rush the so-far disastrous Vineyard Wind project through. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:30
U.S. Offshore Wind: The Struggle Continues
This post updates the financial troubles of Denmark’s Ørsted, recent BOEM auctions, and pushback against Maryland governor Wes Moore. Today, operational offshore wind capacity is less than 50 megawatts versus the Biden-Harris Administration goal of 30,000 MW by 2030. Denmark’s Ørsted, the worldwide leading offshore wind developer, recorded a $575 million loss in the second quarter. In part, the loss is the result of disappointing developments in the U.S. The company has delayed commercial operation of its 704-MW Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut from 2025 to 2026. Ørsted’s ambitious U.S. offshore wind program has been lagging, despite solid support (subsidies, permits) from the Biden administration. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06;50
The fallout from Vineyard Wind’s broken turbine blade
When Nantucket residents began posting photos of the fiberglass and foam littering their beaches on the morning of July 16, everyone in the offshore wind world — proponents and opponents, alike — knew the industry was about to face a very public test in confidence. The debris had fallen from a damaged turbine blade at the nearby Vineyard Wind project. The part, made and installed by GE Vernova, had broken three days earlier, and no one really knew why. The project’s developer, also called Vineyard Wind, scrambled to clean up the mess and assure the public that the material all over their pristine beaches was “non-toxic.” But more and more photos of the bright green debris washed up on social media, many carrying captions like “It’s everywhere” and “STOP #Bigwind!” Soon, a picture of the broken turbine itself surfaced. The 351-foot blade had snapped about 65 feet from the base and what remained of it hung slackly, dangling over the ocean. photos, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:48
TX Fishing Industry Under Threat From BlackRock Wind Farm Project
The massive destruction wrought on Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind project has raised new questions about the safety and prudence of a similar BlackRock-backed project planned off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas near Port Arthur. Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fisherman’s Association posted several pictures of broken and mangled offshore wind turbines from a recent storm to her X account on July 20. The images depict turbines with snapped blades hanging from their mounts. They also show large shards of metal and other debris washing ashore. Brady directed her post to every East Coast governor and the major presidential contenders, save for Vice President Kamala Harris, who had not yet announced her presidential candidacy, warning of what could happen to the fishing industry. “Stop the madness while you still can, because when the fiberglass lands on your shores you will (eventually) be out of the job. Ps we will never forget you threw US commercial fishing industries under the bus,” she wrote. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:14
GE Vernova finds Manufacturing Defect after Vineyard Wind Turbine Accident
The company is facing scrutiny after a massive blade fell into the ocean July 13 at the project in Massachusetts, stopping construction at the nation’s biggest offshore wind farm. Strazik said there’s no sign of a design flaw in its Haliade-X offshore turbine, but it’s halting production at the Gaspe, Canada, plant while the company inspects its blades. “The blade left the factory with insufficient bonding — the glue,” Strazik said. The Gaspe plant in Quebec has been in production since 2006 and has made about 150 offshore blades, including most of the blades for the Vineyard Wind project that experienced the blade failure. Strazik declined to say how many offshore blades have been produced to date at the company’s three blade plants. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:07
LBI offshore wind critics sound alarm after Massachusetts turbine breaks
A Long Beach Island-based group critical of offshore wind development is calling for a moratorium on additional New Jersey’s wind projects following the failure of a turbine off the coast of Massachusetts this month. “Save LBI” called for the moratorium from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Monday, citing the impacts from a broken turbine at the Vineyard Wind project off Martha’s Vineyard. After a blade broke off the turbine, beaches in the region were littered with debris and shards of fiberglass. “The incident is a stark reminder of the many potential disasters offshore wind turbines can pose to the shore and the marine environment and adds to the concerns already raised regarding turbine visibility, reduced breeze, and airborne noise,” Save LBI president and founder Bob Stern said in a release. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:28
Massachusetts wind farm dodges lawsuits over environmental, fishing concerns
A U.S. judge has rejected challenges to federal environmental permits and construction approvals for a $4 billion offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, which commercial fishing groups have claimed will harm whales and impair their businesses. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston on Thursday tossed the final two federal district court lawsuits directly challenging the Vineyard Wind project roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, which would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the country. Representatives for the plaintiffs and the Army Corps didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The Interior Department, which oversees BOEM, declined to comment. >>click to read<< 09:11
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Declines to Halt Vineyard Wind Construction
A federal court has denied a request by members of the fishing industry to pause offshore construction of the Vineyard Wind Project (Project), the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States to receive all permits and approvals necessary to begin construction. On May 25, 2023, Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied a motion for stay, or in the alternative, for preliminary injunction,,, In Seafreeze Shoreside, Inc. et al. v. US Department of the Interior et al., the plaintiffs alleged that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and various other federal permitting agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), and a variety of other statutes and regulations by issuing the Project’s lease and its final approvals. >click to read< 16:57
TPPF: Vineyard Wind Project Violates Federal Law
Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind Project off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The project would severely harm the commercial fishing industry in the area and destroy the lives of countless families, as well as create irreparable harm to the environment and ocean wildlife. >click to read< Included is a link to view the full text of the lawsuit 12:28
Nantucket Residents Against Turbines: Presser Wednesday to announce federal lawsuit to halt construction
The group indicated Tuesday that their suit will be based on efforts to protect the Northern Atlantic right whale. “The MA/RI wind lease areas cover one of the whale’s last strongholds, for migration, foraging and raising their young,” the group says on its website. “We are concerned with the adverse impacts from the increased construction vessel traffic, pile driving, and operational noise on the critically endangered NARW. NOAA fisheries determined the Vineyard Wind project, which is located in one of the last North Atlantic Right Whale foraging and nursery strongholds, and which will involve thousands of miles of vessel trips, will not jeopardize the species. This determination is not supported by the evidence.” >click to read< , and >here< 14:19
Fishermen Are At Heart of Delay in Vineyard Wind Project
The fishermen’s breakthrough with the National Marine Fisheries Service mirrors their breakthrough last month with the Edgartown Conservation Commission, which voted 5-1 on June 27 to reject a permit for Vineyard Wind to lay cable on the ocean floor about a mile east of Martha’s Vineyard’s eastern shore. That meeting was not audiotaped or videotaped, according to a town official, but reports say that fishermen raised concerns that electromagnetic radiation from the cable may disrupt the ability of fish to communicate with each other, and therefore decrease the number of fish. Fishermen were also concerned the laying of the cable could itself damage the fishery. >click to read<12:08
