The vessel was conducting research for a proposed offshore wind project. The Coast Guard rescued the 2 crew members, one of whom tragically died. Why has the Coast Guard still not issued an investigation report more than 13 years after the incident? An inquiry was sent to the Coast Guard but no response has been received.
There are serious questions regarding the positioning of a liftboat in the Mid-Atlantic for several months beginning in March when major storms are likely. There are also important questions about the liftboat’s failure mechanisms, the operator’s authority to be conducting this research, and the actions that were taken in preparation for storm conditions.
One worker died and another was seriously endangered. 13 years after the incident, we are still wondering what happened and why.
South Fork Wind: 19 miles southeast of Block Island, Rhode Island
12 or fewer Siemens-Gamesa’s 11-megawatt turbines
BOEM approved the larger (62 turbine) Vineyard Wind 1 project on July 15, 2021. Those turbines will be located approximately 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. On Oct. 19, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue the Federal Government over violations of lease management and environmental statutes.
This decision is more about exercising political power than advancing our energy future, which is dependent on collaboration among all sectors of the energy industry.
Oil and gas producers are “banned,” but major energy consumers are welcome to support the conference.
The 3 oil companies mentioned in the article are major investors in offshore wind and other renewable energy projects. These companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase US offshore wind leases and will spend much more on the projects that follow. They are also major investors in low carbon intensity offshore oil and gas production.
Does the US government, which (at taxpayers expense) is sending a very large delegation to COP26, support this type of discriminatory behavior toward major contributors to our economy?
While the delegates are attending the conference, the folks at home are seething about gasoline prices and inflation.
As the global economy recovers and global leaders prepare to gather for a landmark conference on climate change, the sudden energy crunch hitting the world is threatening already stressed supply chains, stirring geopolitical tensions and raising questions about whether the world is ready for the green energy revolution when it’s having trouble powering itself right now.
In the United States, which as an energy producer has been spared the worst consequences of the crisis even as gasoline prices have hit their highest mark since 2014, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested Wednesday that the Biden administration might sell off part of the country’s Strategic Oil Reserve or ban exports of crude oil.
Energy analysts warned that such moves could be self-defeating, and on Thursday the department backpedaled.
Energy analysts argue that Europe moved too quickly away from fossil-fueled power, before ensuring that sufficient renewable sources could take up the slack in an emergency. Caught halfway in a transition that should take decades, they say, Europe is now scrambling to find coal and gas to burn in its remaining traditional plants.
In Guangdong, China’s most populous province, authorities have banned the use of elevators in office buildings for the third floor and below, encouraged residents to use natural light as much as possible, and asked for air conditioners to be adjusted to higher temperatures. Beijing and Shanghai canceled annual light shows during the Golden Week holiday that spanned the first week of October.
The growing interest in green hydrogen inspired me to write a post about Rick Carrier, a war hero and visionary who is largely unknown to the offshore energy community. Rick’s plan for a Mid-Atlantic wind-hydrogen demonstration project was the first offshore wind proposal submitted to the Minerals Management Service, the bureau that initiated the offshore wind program in the U. S.
Rick Carrier lived an amazing life – WWII hero, artist, playwright, diver, conservationist, green hydrogen pioneer, and more. Perhaps most noteworthy were his military accomplishments. He was among the first Americans to land on Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion. He subsequently became the first allied soldier to discover the Buchenwald concentration camp. The next day, April 11, 1945, he marched into the camp with Patton’s Third Army and liberated the prisoners. Rick is pictured above at the 2012 March of The Living, an annual walk down the 3-kilometer path from Auschwitz to Birkenau. In June of 2014, Rick returned to Normandy for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Later that year, the President of France awarded him the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor — France’s highest honor.
Rick founded the USA Bald Eagle Command in 1975 to protect the endangered American Bald Eagle. The organization’s efforts played a role in President Reagan’s declaration of June 20, 1982 as National Bald Eagle Day. Through the efforts of this and other conservation groups, the Bald Eagle was removed from the Endangered Species list in 2007.
Rick’s green hydrogen proposal was yet another patriotic venture. Through his non-profit, Bald Eagle Energy, he sought to demonstrate the commercial potential for using offshore wind energy to produce hydrogen from sea water. Unfortunately, the framework for permitting such projects had not yet been established. While we tried to find a way to make the project possible, the obstacles were too great.
Washington, D.C. (9/13/2021) —Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a broad membership-based coalition of fishing industry associations and fishing companies, filed a Petition for Review today in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding the Secretary of the Interior’s July 15, 2021 decision approving the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind energy project. This action is the culmination of many years of conscientious participation by fisheries professionals only to see their expertise and value summarily ignored by decision-makers during the leasing process.
The RODA statement is quite strong. While the new administration understandably wants to advance offshore wind development, they would have been wise to accept input from RODA and other interested parties before approving Vineyard Wind I. The fishing industry certainly has a legitimate interest in the outcome of this and other offshore wind projects.
For the better part of two months now, four of the five wind turbines at America’s first offshore wind farm haven’t been spinning.
Workers at the Merkur wind farm in the German North Sea found signs of stress fatigue on the support structures of the “helihoist” platforms on some of the project’s GE Haliade turbines.
Ørsted was prudent to shutdown the turbines to conduct precautionary inspections.
Press reports imply that Ørsted was slow to advise the public about the reasons for the shutdown.
The shutdown raises questions about the reliability of wind-centric regional power grids.
Given the questions that have arisen regarding the regulation of offshore wind projects (this wind farm is in Rhode Island State waters), the absence of any comments from State and local officials was noteworthy. It’s unclear what, if any, role the State had in the shutdown decision.
Hurricane Henri may give the wind farm a bit of a test this weekend.
In a report into the future of energy, the influential Committee on Climate Change calls on the Government to scale back plans to build thousands of turbines off the coast of Britain.
Instead, the report calls for hundreds more wind turbines to be built onshore at a lower cost over the next eight years.Daily Mail UK
On the other hand, offshore locations have stronger, more consistent winds, and minimal aesthetic and noise impacts. Is the public going to accept massive onshore wind development?
I continue to be intrigued by the concept of offshore energy units which integrate natural gas and wind projects to ensure consistent power supply. (See slide below from a presentation by George Hagerman, Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute)
Like a massive Christo project but without the advance publicity, installations have been popping up across New Jersey for about a year now, courtesy of New Jersey’s largest utility, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Unlike other solar projects tucked away on roofs or in industrial areas, the utility is mounting 200,000 individual panels in neighborhoods throughout its service area, covering nearly three-quarters of the state. NY Times
So what’s next, mini-turbines on every utility pole, or worse yet, geeks like this guy hooked up to the electric grid? 🙂
Malcolm Sharples reminds us that the Coast Guard still hasn’t completed the investigation of the tragic liftboat accident in May 2008. The boat was conducting research for a proposed offshore wind project. Why the delay?
Here is more information from Malcolm:
Liftboat Russell W. Peterson damaged in storm, 1 person died, 1 person injured ; “One dead, one rescued as research vessel sinks off Rehoboth”. One crewman died today after gale force winds pounded a specialized research ship that was launched in March to study Delaware’s offshore wind power resources, forcing the Coast Guard to pull two crewmen from the sinking vessel. Coast Guard Petty Officer Nick Cangemi said one of the two crew members of the RV Russell W. Peterson did not have any vital signs when a helicopter arrived on the scene this morning. “We took both people to the hospital in Maryland, where the hospital declared one of the gentlemen deceased,” Cangemi said. They were taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD. The ship was left adrift and ran aground at Bethany Beach.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 