Tag Archives: wind farm
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
Senate Commission Wants Answers Regarding Exposed Block Island Wind Farm Cables
The Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) said its geologist recommended before construction of the offshore wind facility that Deepwater Wind, now owned by Denmark-based Ørsted, bury the two cables 6-8 feet deep using a process known as horizontal directional drilling. Deepwater Wind, however, relied on an independent engineering report that concluded the 12-inch-diameter cable could be buried at a depth of 2-4 feet using a devise called a jet plow. According to CRMC executive director Grover Fugate, CRMC’s governing board relied on the independent report to approve the more shallow depth using the jet plow process. >click to read< 09:14
Dirty Wind, Dirty Politics. Pier remake could cost state three times $93 million estimate
Tuesday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont plans what I would have to call the most egregious overreach of executive power and assault on open public governing I’ve ever seen. And I’m old. It’s hard to know exactly what will unfold at a special meeting today of the board of Lamont’s stepchild, the corrupt and dysfunctional Connecticut Port Authority, because the governor, incredibly, won’t disclose the deals he plans for them to vote on. An agenda for the meeting posted late Friday afternoon suggests the board will vote on the still-secret deal to rebuild State Pier as a wind turbine assembly facility mostly closed to routine marine cargo, its historic purpose. >click to read< 15:31
Cuomo’s Curse: New York Governor’s $47,000,000,000 Wind & Solar Boondoggle
A decade from now, New Yorkers will rue the day that Andrew Cuomo determined to run their state on chaotically intermittent wind and solar. Like everywhere else that’s attempted to run on sunshine and breezes, New York’s power prices are bound to rocket out of control and its enviable grid reliability will soon become a thing of the past. ,, One of the recently awarded off-shore wind project proposes to use 10.2 MW turbines and that means that 1,604 wind turbines >click to read< 09:49
For offshore wind, expect more delays, review won’t be done until December
The Vineyard Wind project was put on hold indefinitely in August 2019 when the federal government decided to supplement its environmental impact review with a study of the cumulative impact of the many wind farms being proposed along the eastern seaboard. The impact of wind farms on fishermen is a focus of that supplemental review. >click to read< 14:19
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
Proposed Customs and Border Protection Modifications Will Weaken the Jones Act
By Meghan Lapp – The Jones Act, or Merchant Marine Act of 1920, has been the foundation of U.S. maritime commerce for 100 years, requiring coastwise trade, i.e. transport of merchandise between two U.S. points, to be conducted on U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, U.S.-built vessels, which must be crewed by a minimum of 75% U.S. citizens and/or permanent U.S. residents.,,, On October 23, 2019, Customs and Border Protection issued a bulletin, “Proposed Modification and Revocation of Ruling Letters Relating to CPB’s application of the Jones Act to the Transportation of Certain Merchandise and Equipment Between Coastwise Points” (see page 12). >click to read< 14:35
Park City Wind Will Transform Bridgeport Into Offshore Wind Hub
Vineyard Wind announced details of the company’s proposed “Park City Wind” offshore wind project. Vineyard Wind submitted its Park City Wind proposal on September 30th, 2019 to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) in response to their 2019 solicitation for offshore wind facilities. “Park City Wind is a tremendous opportunity to revitalize Bridgeport by creating thousands of good paying jobs with good benefits in both the wind industry and throughout the local supply chain,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen. >click to read< 09:47
Mass. Maritime Launches First-in-the-Nation Offshore Wind Training Facility
Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides, and Stephen Pike, CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, joined officials from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy to launch the first-in-the-nation offshore wind crew transfer training facility. The group of state and college representatives officially christened the training vessel as part of the 2nd Annual Massachusetts STEM Week. >click to read< 08:10
Booming wind industry’s big worry
Land-based turbines are rising by the thousands across America, from the remote Texas plains to farm towns of Iowa. And the U.S. wind boom now is expanding offshore, with big corporations planning $70 billion in investment for the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farms.,,, The Interior Department cited the surge in corporate interest for offshore wind projects in saying it wanted more study before moving forward. It directed Vineyard Wind to research the overall impact of the East Coast’s planned wind boom.,, Federal fisheries officials have been among the main bloc calling for more study, saying they need to know more about the impacts on ocean life. >click to read< 14:23
Collision Course: Offshore Wind Turbines Destroying Scotland’s Fishing Industry
Britain’s trawlermen are tough, but not invincible. Giant industrial wind turbines and their associated infrastructure have wrecked once productive fishing grounds, including the scallop beds of the Moray Firth. Dodging turbines in rough seas is bad enough: Collision Course: Offshore Wind Turbines Present New (Unnecessary) Mortal Danger for Trawlermen, But having nets and fishing gear snagged on and destroyed by the turbines’ transmission cables is a bridge too far. >click to read< 11:26
The Hamptons love green energy. But that wind farm?
This affluent enclave on the East End of Long Island is steeped in eco-conscious pride, with strict water quality and land preservation rules and an abundance of electric cars on the roads. So at first, many happily embraced a plan for an offshore wind farm that would help lead the way as New York State sets some of the most ambitious green energy goals in the country. But then came word that the project’s transmission cable was going to land in Wainscott, one of the most exclusive slices of the already exclusive Hamptons, where homeowners include the likes of the cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder and Marci Klein, a former longtime producer of “Saturday Night Live” and the daughter of Calvin Klein. >click to read< 08:21
Vineyard Wind Gasping for Air Until 2020
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has delayed the construction off our coast of Vineyard Wind, the country’s first commercial scale offshore wind farm, until 2020. I believe President Trump is squarely behind all the concerns of the commercial fishing industry that haven’t been adequately resolved by the wind farm folks, and if you don’t get the problems addressed now, as Carlos Santana would say, “you can forget about it.” Because five other offshore wind projects are planned adjacent to the site. Phil Paleologos >click to read< 19:58
Wind turbines and fishing nets fight for offshore space
Vineyard Wind,,, In 2010, BOEM launched an initiative dubbed “Smart from the Start,” which aimed to steer wind development away from prime fishing areas, shipping lanes and sensitive marine habitat prior to leasing.,,, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. “There are some squid fishermen, mostly from Rhode Island, and some lobstermen who fish in there, but the value of the area’s annual fish landings is modest, especially compared to the lease areas proposed off of New York.”,,, Also important: Few members of New Bedford’s scallop fleet fish in the waters off Massachusetts.,,,But if scallopers can live with offshore wind development off Massachusetts, others are vehemently opposed. Rhode Island fishermen trawl for squid in the area. >click to read< 09:19
Will Connecticut Gov. Lamont entertain public input on a wind-only port?
Let’s all humor Gov. Ned Lamont and join him in looking away from the messy scandals at the Connecticut Port Authority and concentrate instead on the wind deal that the troubled agency hatched, a plan that could close the port of New London to traditional cargo for the better part of a generation. If I have the governor’s timetable correct, there will soon be a grand unveiling of the final $93 million plan, as already sketched out in permit applications, to convert New London’s port to a giant wind turbine assembly pad. >click to read< 10:20
Spacing of Deepwater RI Ocean Wind Turbines Ignored After Deaths
Where is the investigation of what effect the spacing of the Block Island Wind Farm had on the death of two fishermen New Years Eve? On January 1, 2019, New Year’s eve while almost everyone was celebrating the new year drinking, watching parades and fireworks the fishing industry boats were hard a work bringing in their catch. The Mistress a 52-foot fishing trawler in the vicinity of the Block Island wind farm at 1:30 AM took on the water which overtook the engine room. >click to read< 11:12 >click to read< our coverage of the F/V Mistress
Collision Course: Offshore Wind Turbines Present New (Unnecessary) Mortal Danger for Trawlermen
The fishermen who work off America’s Atlantic coast, are furious over plans to spear thousands of industrial wind turbines into their fishing grounds, destroying not only the seabed (the source of their income and prosperity), but wrecking their fishing grounds, forever. Trawlermen off the New Jersey coast have already told developers what they can do with their projects: Deepwater in Deep Trouble: Fishermen Tell Off-Shore Wind Farm Developers to F@*#K Off,,, >click to read< 08:21
Skipper claims scallop boats being displaced from fishing grounds by wind energy schemes
Kirkcudbright scallop boats are being displaced from traditional summer fishing grounds by wind energy developments, according to a skipper. Steven Girgan estimates up to 15 vessels have abandoned seas off Wick and Montrose for waters elsewhere. Underwater cables, turbine towers and buried rock make trailing dredging gear too dangerous, he claims. Huge areas now off-limits include SSE’s 84-turbine Beatrice windfarm, in the outer Moray Firth, which went fully operational in June. >click to read< 08:40
Vineyard Wind Delay could be fatal; developer said it needed approval by end of August
IN A DECISION that could derail Vineyard Wind, federal regulators on Friday put their review of the project on hold temporarily while they seek to better understand the cumulative impact of the many wind farm projects being proposed along the eastern seaboard. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a statement saying the agency is expanding its draft environmental impact statement on the Vineyard Wind project to include a cumulative analysis of wind farm projects on the drawing board. >click to read< 19:24
R.I. fishermen critical of wind farm plan
Developers Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy say that they’ve taken into account the concerns of fishermen by configuring the wind farm’s up to 15 turbines from east to west with rows that are 1 nautical mile (about 1.2 miles) apart. The spacing from north to south, however, would be smaller, with either 0.8 or 1 mile between turbines.And that, according to fishing industry leaders and the Rhode Island coastal council, isn’t good enough. ,,,“I do have concerns. Hopefully this won’t turn out to be Vineyard Wind, part two,” said Lanny Dellinger, chairman of the which advises the Rhode Island coastal council. >click to read< 08:30
Exclusive: First big U.S. offshore wind project hits snag due to fishing-industry concerns
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Inc (AGR.N), was scheduled to begin,,, Documents seen by Reuters, which have not previously been made public, show the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) triggered the delays by declining to sign off on the project’s design, as proposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead agency on offshore wind projects.,,, In an April 16 letter to BOEM, Michael Pentony, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic office, said his agency could not support the environmental permit for Vineyard Wind because the project failed to fully address the concerns of the fishing industry.,,, >click to read< 08:26
VOTE THEM OUT! Mass. delegation pushing to advance Vineyard Wind
Members of Congress have become involved in trying to move Vineyard Wind forward, a top Baker administration official said Tuesday, as lobbying intensifies to advance what state officials hope will be the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project. Energy and Environmental Affairs Undersecretary Patrick Woodcock told members of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Board Tuesday about the involvement of members of Congress since the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management indicated it would not decide on a key project approval this month, as anticipated. >click to read< 10:37
Bend Over! – Critics Say Wind Farm Rates Constitute Price Gouging
There are a lot of ways to deflect the criticism, but really none to refute it: The South Fork Wind Farm will charge higher rates for the power it generates — three to five times more than its parent company, Ørsted/Deepwater, will charge in nearby markets. Despite complaints from all sides, freedom of information requests, and now a lawsuit, neither the Long Island Power Authority nor Ørsted have shed any light on the matter. East Hampton Town doesn’t even know the cost per kilowatt-hour ratepayers will be charged. In fact, though, every ratepayer in the PSEG/LIPA system will pay for the wind power generated, and the power will not be earmarked for East Hampton, as many at first believed, but for the entire grid. >click to read< 19:40
Developer: We won’t pursue wind farm in waters off Hamptons
The developer of one of the largest of three proposed wind farms contemplated for the waters off the Hamptons has withdrawn its tentative plan in favor of sites to the west, and is urging the federal government to restrict turbines from East End waters, according to the Germany-based developer’s top U.S. official.,, Bill White, managing director of East Wind LLC, a subsidiary of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, said Friday the decision to withdraw and recommend against development off the Hamptons was primarily related to concerns about impacts on fishing. >click to read<10:08
Vineyard Wind Finalizes Turbine Array to Boost Mitigation for Fishermen and Historic Preservation on Nantucket and Vineyard
Vineyard Wind announced today that it has adjusted the final turbine array for the United States’ first large-scale offshore wind facility by changing the location of three 9.5 megawatt (MW) turbines; the total project size remains unchanged at approximately 800 megawatts (MW). The design change eliminates three turbines located near the Nantucket Historic District and Chappaquiddick, which comprises the eastern end of Martha’s Vineyard. >click to read<09:35
Maine Aqua Ventus floating wind farm gets green light
Maine Gov. Janet Mills gave the go-ahead for a floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Maine. “With the innovative work being done at 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.” >click to read<10:10
For Fishermen, Wind Farm Debate Contains A Dose Of Inevitability
Discussions of the wind farm among its most dead-set opponents, commercial fishermen, has turned decidedly in recent months, from stopping the project entirely to, instead, identifying ways to limit the negative impacts it wind farm could have—and that was even before the official public input phase of the construction and operations plan had begun. Fishermen from Rhode Island recently inked a compensation agreement with Vineyard Wind,,, The developers of the South Fork Wind Farm have yet to offer any sort of a similar package to fishermen locally, “The only place that doesn’t have any say in the project is New York,” said Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “You tell me—what’s wrong with this picture?” >click to read<17:54
Wind farm critics step up efforts – Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott launch website, wainscott.org
In the Town of East Hampton’s easternmost hamlet, Montauk commercial fishermen say the proposed South Fork Wind Farm may destroy their livelihood, citing potential disruptions to fish populations and migration patterns as well as the danger to navigation represented by its 15 turbines, each of them hundreds of feet tall and driven deep into the ocean floor. At the other end of the town, many Wainscott residents are upset that Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind has identified the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane as the preferred site to land the wind farm’s export cable. A group called Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott has launched a website, wainscott.org, which lays out a mission statement, action plan, and petition opposing the site. >click to read<15:52
Electric companies seek proposals for round of wind energy
The three electric distribution companies in Massachusetts have together issued a request for a second round of offshore wind energy, as the winner of the first round – Vineyard Wind – looks to start its project later this year. Eversource, National Grid and Unitil issued the request for proposals May 23. Initial, confidential responses from offshore wind developers are expected by Aug. 9. The utility companies are seeking contracts running from 15 to 20 years for at least 400 megawatts of offshore wind energy. Proposals from 200 megawatts up to 800 megawatts may be submitted. >click to read<13:42
