Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged Empire Wind, NOAA, petition to revoke LOA, Save the East Coast - NJ on July 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The attached petition from Save the East Coast Inc. et al requests that NOAA revoke the Empire Wind Letter of Authorization using the emergency authority delineated at 50 C.F.R. § 216.106(f).
This is a strong filing, but revocation would be difficult given the extensive development activity to date and the Administration’s decision in May to allow the project to go forward.
Posted in Offshore Wind, tagged construction update, New Bedford Light, Vineyard Wind on July 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Given the absence of updates from Vineyard Wind and its regulators, the excellent reporting by local media like the New Bedford Light and Nantucket Current is much appreciated.
Posted in accidents, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged press conference, Town of Nantucket, turbine blade failure, Vineyard Wind on July 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Nantucket Current: Nantucket officials and attorneys will hold a press conference next Tuesday, July 29th, at 9:30 a.m. regarding “Vineyard Wind’s failure to meet its legal and public commitments to the community.”
Meanwhile, is this a satisfactory response from BSEE to the Current’s inquiry regarding the bureau’s long delayed report on the turbine blade incident?
“BSEE’s comprehensive and independent investigation is ongoing,” an agency spokesperson wrote in an email to the Current on Tuesday. “There is no timetable for the completion of the investigation, as BSEE focuses on ensuring that the investigation is thorough and complete.”
Posted in accidents, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged GE Vernova, Good Neighbor Agreement, Nantucket, operator responsibility, settlement agreement, turbine blade failure, Vineyard Wind on July 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Nantucket reached a settlement agreement (attached) with turbine manufacturer GE Vernova (GEV), praising that company while criticizing Vineyard Wind (VW), the lessee and operator:
“The Town of Nantucket commends GE Vernova for its leadership in reaching this agreement. By contrast, the Town has found Vineyard Wind wanting in terms of its leadership, accountability, transparency, and stewardship in the aftermath of the blade failure and determined that it would not accept Vineyard Wind as a signatory to the settlement,” the town stated Friday morning.
Comments:
Posted in Offshore Wind, tagged EPA, Maryland, PSD permit, US Wind on July 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The main effect of the EPA ruling (attached) appears to be that permit appeals will be submitted to EPA rather than the State of Maryland.
Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, tagged anniversary, blade failure, BSEE, debris, departures, environmental assessment, investigation report, quality control, Vineyard Wind on July 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Why has the BSEE investigation report still not been issued?
Construction on the Vineyard Wind project continues yet important questions about quality control, regulatory departures, debris recovery, and environmental impacts remain.
Given the investigation’s significance, not only for Vineyard Wind, but for other offshore wind projects planned or under construction, how is the delay in issuing the report acceptable?
Keep in mind that the lengthy and complex National Commission, BOEMRE, Chief Counsel, and NAE reports on the Macondo blowout were published 6 to to 17 months after the well was shut-in.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Congressman Chris Smith, Empire Wind, litigation, radar interference on June 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Radar interference is one of the key issues in the law suit against the Empire Wind project. Congressman Smith’s press release (attached) focuses on that issue.
Posted in energy policy, Norway, Offshore Wind, tagged court filing, Empire Wind, Equinor, govt owned company, Norway, OCS Lands Act on June 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Along with other charges, the attached complaint asserts that awarding a wind lease to Norway’s Equinor, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA):
While other elements of the complaint appear to have merit, the charge against Norway does not. Here’s why:
The plaintiffs second count (excerpt below) seems to have more merit. The bulk of the filing pertains to this count.
The complaint goes on to discuss the reasons why the plaintiffs believe the review was indeed necessary and should have been conducted.
Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Empire Wind, Equinor, heavy lift, Heerema, piles, SSCV, Thiaf, wind turbines on June 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Thialf: a character in Norse mythology who was Thor’s servant.
The Heerema Thialf, a semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV), is a rather massive presence in coastal waters. The vessel is 661 feet long and 470 feet high, with a lifting capacity of up to 14,200 metric tons, and is the second-largest of its kind.
The Thialf, which set a world record in 2000 by lifting the 11,883-metric-ton Shearwater topside structure in the North Sea, will be driving piles for 54 Vestas 15 MW wind turbines and a substation structure that are part of Equinor’s controversial Empire Wind project.
John Smith tells me that the Thialf is one of the heavy lift vessels being considered for removing California offshore oil and gas platforms. The vessel is too large for the Panama Canal and would have to make the trip around South America or across the Pacific, depending on where it was last working.
The Thialf’s day rate has not been disclosed, but is likely greater than $500k. Equinor claimed to be losing $50 million/week when the project was paused. Thialf costs were presumably a significant chunk of those losses.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged Ack for Whales, Aquinnah Wampanoag, BOEM, DOI, Green Oceans, lawsuit, New England Wind, NMFS on May 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »
ACK For Whales, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head / Aquinnah, Green Oceans, a coalition of charter fishing groups and seven individuals filed suit in federal court asserting that the Departments of Interior and Commerce violated the law when they approved the Record of Decision (ROD) for the New England Wind 1 and 2 projects.
Construction has not yet begun on the New England Wind 1 and 2 projects. The leases abut Vineyard Wind’s troubled lease 0501 (see above map), site of last summer’s turbine blade failure.
Per ACK for Whales President Vallorie Oliver:
“In offshore wind project after offshore wind project, from Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind and New England Wind to the others, the government was so desperate to rush these projects that it cut corners and violated the law,” Oliver said. “The government didn’t care if it trampled on the Wampanoag sacred beliefs and rites, hurt the charter boat, fishing and lobster industries or wiped out the Right whales. The only thing that mattered was to get these environmentally destructive turbines built, costs to the rest of us be damned.”
| Plaintiff: | ACK FOR WHALES, INC., VALLORIE OLIVER, AMY DISIBIO, VERONICA BONNET, DOUGLAS LINDLEY, STEVEN AND SHARYL KOHLER, DANNY PRONK, WILLIAM VANDERHOOP, GREEN OCEANS, RHODE ISLAND PARTY AND CHARTER BOAT ASSOCIATION, CAPE COD CHARTER BOAT ASSOCIATION, INC., CONNECTICUT CHARTER AND PARTY BOAT ASSOCIATION, INC., MONTAUK BOATMEN AND CAPTAINS ASSOCIATION, INC. and WAMPANOAG TRIBE OF GAY HEAD AQUINNAH |
|---|---|
| Defendant: | UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, DOUG BURGUM, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior, WALTER CRUICKSHANK, in his official capacity as the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, HOWARD LUTNICK, in his official capacity as the Secretary of Commerce and EUGENIO PIEIRO SOLER, in his official capacity as the Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service |
| Case Number: | 1:2025cv01678 |
| Filed: | May 27, 2025 |
| Court: | U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia |
