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Archive for the ‘Offshore Wind’ Category

Irish Sea wind theft? Wake losses threaten offshore wind sector

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on March 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Orsted photo: wind wakes trailing turbines at Vattenfall’s Horns Rev wind farm offshore Denmark

The oil industry has a long history of dealing with the correlative rights issues associated with oil drainage from competitive reservoirs. Similar issues are arising in the offshore wind industry.

Orsted believes ‘catastrophic wake losses’ threaten the existence of their Irish Sea wind farms, claiming that wakes from EnBW, BP, and RWE projects could shorten the life of Orsted’s assets. Note that wind wakes can stretch as far as 100 km.

Orsted claims that four nearby wind farms in the Irish Sea could result in a drop in Orsted’s annual energy production of up to 5.34%, and is seeking mitigation or compensation.

This is all rather familiar to the oil industry and its regulators, particularly the call for compensation!

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BSEE: Lightning protection system was not operational on Vineyard Wind turbine

Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , on March 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

BSEE statement:

BSEE’s report on the initial (7/13/2024) blade failure has still not been released.

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“Groundhog Day” on Nantucket?

Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , on March 5, 2025| 1 Comment »

The same Vineyard Wind turbine blade that failed last summer has now been struck by lightning:

“Lightning struck the fractured stub of Vineyard Wind’s broken turbine blade in the early morning hours on Friday (2/27), according to representatives from Vineyard Wind and the Coast Guard. It was the remnants of the broken blade that snapped this July that were still attached to the turbine.”

“It appears the town (Nantucket) was not informed of the lightning strike by Vineyard Wind until it received media inquiries about it, over 48 hours after it happened.”

More on the Vineyard Wind saga.

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BOEM rescinds controversial Rice’s Whale requirements

Posted in Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , , on February 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Although Rice’s Whale lease stipulations were deleted from Sale 261 leases by court order, similar NTL restrictions remained in effect for all oil and gas operations in the Gulf of America. Those NTL restrictions, some of which may be excessive and premature, have now been rescinded.

A previous post compared the Rice’s Whale restrictions applicable to Gulf oil and gas operations with the less onerous Right Whale restrictions for the Atlantic wind industry.

Of course, this is not the end of the Rice’s Whale dispute. A Federal judge in Maryland has ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) to prepare a new biological opinion that better protects the Rice’s whale. The deadline for the new biological opinion was extended to May 21, 2025. After that date, no new Gulf leases may be issued and no new operating plans may be approved pending a new biological opinion that is acceptable to the Court.

Stay tuned.

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Letter requesting the withdraw of wind project permits

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , on February 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Groups and individuals opposing Atlantic wind projects sent the attached letter to Interior Secretary Doug Bergum asking for the withdraw of wind permits.

The groups cite serious problems with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Letters of Authorization (LOA) for Incidental Take of endangered and threatened species. The LOAs authorized cumulative Takes of 548 individuals from a population of around 338.

The groups’ “no list” (project analysis deficiencies):

  • No EIS for the NMFS Incidental Take Authorization
  • No consideration of the impact of harassment in the Biological Opinion including cumulative impacts
  • No harassment authorization for the turbine installation ship
  • No consideration of using suction caissons instead of pile driving
  • No consideration of sediment plumes from ocean currents flowing through wind facilities
  • No assessment of a project’s contribution to the overall effects of multiple wind projects
  • No consideration of continuous operating noise
  • No consideration of physical presence-based harassment
CFACT-Letter-to-Secretary-Burgum-1Download

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Nantucket Board is not pleased

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Nantucket LIghts” – view of turbines from the south shore

From the Nantucket Current on X.

We “feel misled” Nantucket Select Board member Dawn Hill Holdgate gives State Rep Thomas Moakley and State Sen. Julian Cyr an earful on Vineyard Wind.

“We as a board, and the community at large even more vehemently, really feel misled by the representations we were given back in 2020…”

“The visual simulations we were given were not accurate.”

“The promises on the lighting, they have been fully lit for quite a long time now. That never should have happened.”

“The safety and the environmental impacts on the sea life are just far greater than the information we were provided when we were offered a financial settlement based on just the visual impact on our historic landmark, which is far more impactful than the simulations we were shown.”

Blade replacement update: “They’ve removed four complete sets to date,” Nantucket Select Board chair Brooke Mohr said tonight. That would mean 12 of the 66 compromised blades Vineyard Wind is required to remove have been taken down.

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Congressman Van Drew calls out NJ Board of Public Utilities

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , on February 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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WSJ blasts NJ Governor Murphy

Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , on February 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

WSJ: “How many multibillion-dollar projects must go bust before a Governor comes to his senses? The answer is blowing in the wind, but New Jersey’s Phil Murphy doesn’t seem to be listening.”

Ouch!: Note how it’s always the developers that give up on these projects and never the state, despite the awful prospects for ratepayers. Gov. Murphy has treated renewable energy as a sacred cause no matter the costs since 2018. That includes a bill he signed to let Ørsted pocket federal credits it had promised to pass on to customers, though he clawed money back when the projects died.”

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Offshore wind: NJ reluctantly accepts reality

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , , on February 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Not a single offshore wind turbine will be installed offshore New Jersey during the reign of Gov. Murphy, a leading proponent of offshore wind. How much did his wind advocacy cost NJ taxpayers?

Meanwhile, management of what is left of the Atlantic Shores partnership continues to deny the obvious – that there is no realistic path forward for their projects.

Finally, NJ Congressman Chris Smith is questioning any further action by BOEM on offshore wind projects. See the attached letter.

letter_acting_director_anderson_from_congressman_c._smith_jan_29_2025Download

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Another major setback for offshore wind as Shell exits the Atlantic Shores project

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged , , , , on January 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The irrational exuberance that peaked at the Feb. 2022 New York Bight Wind Sale already seems like a distant memory.

In their quarterly earnings report released on Jan. 30, Shell disclosed a $996 million impairment associated with their withdraw from the controversial Atlantic Shores wind project offshore New Jersey.

Shell is no longer a participant in any US offshore wind projects. This leaves Equinor (2/3 Norwegian govt ownership) as the only major oil company pursuing US offshore wind development.

Those Atlantic states that have linked their economic future to offshore wind better be reassessing their energy strategy.

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